Most Americans are now getting their news from social media, the report finds | Media news

More than a fifth of the consumers interviewed were engaged with the Podcastor Joe Rogan, according to the Reuters Institute.

Social media and video platforms have overshadowed traditional media as sources of information in the United States for the first time, according to a report.

The fifth four percent of the Americans interviewed used platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Tiktok for news in the previous week, against 27% in 2013, according to the Reuters Institute report.

According to the Digital News Report, did not rely on television, while 48% examined new sites or applications.

Young people have led a quarter of work, with 54% of Americans aged 18 to 24 and half of the 25 to 34 year olds choosing social media and video platforms as their “main” new source.

The evolution towards social media was the strongest in the United States and Brazil, where 34% and 35% of respondents, respectively, described it as their “main” source of news, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Denmark and Japan.

Individual online influencers, most of them, also reach a large number of news consumers, according to the report.

More than a fifth of us, the respondents said they had seen the podcaster Joe Rogan discuss news during the week following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, while 12-14% met Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens or Ben Shapiro, report.

The report also revealed that the so-called “bump Trump” experienced by information platforms in 2016 did not continue in its second presidency, with only social media and video platforms seeing their audience increase.

In nearly 50 countries interviewed, four out of 10 respondents said they trusted most of the news “most of the time”, a figure that has been stable for three years, according to the report.

Confidence was the highest in Nigeria, where 68% expressed their confidence, followed by Finland, Kenya, Denmark, South Africa and Thailand.

Respondents in Greece and Hungary had the least confidence, with only 22% believing the news, followed by those of Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania.

Nic Newman, the author of the report, said that the drop in the influence of traditional media was a boon for politicians, who are “increasingly able to bypass traditional journalism in favor of the friendly friendly media,” personalities “and” influencers “who often have special access but which rarely ask difficult questions”.

“These trends are increasingly pronounced in the United States under Donald Trump, as well as parties of Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, but move more slowly elsewhere, especially when the information brands maintain a strong link with the public,” said Newman in an overview of the report.

“In countries where press freedom is threatened, alternative ecosystems also offer opportunities, at best, to bring new perspectives and challenge repressive governments,” said Newman.

“But at the same time, these changes can contribute to the increase in political polarization and to a coarse online debate.”