While we scroll our smartphones for updates, tune out of traditional broadcasts, and debate media trust over dinner, these startling statistics reveal that in 2023 the very definition of how we consume, share, and believe the news was rewritten by our digital habits.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, 86% of U.S. adults reported getting news from a digital device at least occasionally
- Globally, 59% of people used online sources for news in 2023, up from 53% in 2022
- Smartphone usage for news reached 60% among under-35s in the UK in 2023
- In 2023, evening network newscasts averaged 5.8 million viewers, down 7% from 2022
- Fox News led cable news with 2.3 million primetime viewers in 2023 average
- Local TV news viewership among 18-49s fell to 12% in 2023
- U.S. newspaper circulation fell to 20.9 million daily in 2023, down 5%
- The New York Times print circulation was 384,000 daily in 2023
- Local daily newspapers declined by 2.5% to 1,200 in 2023
- 45% of people aged 18-24 in the UK used Facebook for news weekly in 2023
- Twitter (X) news usage dropped to 19% globally in 2023 after rebranding
- Instagram Reels drove 25% of news discovery for Gen Z in 2023
- Public trust in news was 40% globally in 2023, down 2 points
- 58% of Americans had little/no trust in mass media in 2023
- Trust in BBC news stood at 62% in the UK in 2023
Digital news consumption dominates globally while traditional media viewership and trust continue declining.
Broadcast News
- In 2023, evening network newscasts averaged 5.8 million viewers, down 7% from 2022
- Fox News led cable news with 2.3 million primetime viewers in 2023 average
- Local TV news viewership among 18-49s fell to 12% in 2023
- CNN primetime audience averaged 680,000 viewers in 2023
- MSNBC saw a 15% decline in total day viewers to 1.1 million in 2023
- Public broadcasting news like PBS NewsHour averaged 1.2 million viewers in 2023
- Late-night news shows like The Tonight Show had 2.5 million viewers weekly average in 2023
- Spanish-language Telemundo news grew 8% to 1.4 million viewers in 2023
- ABC World News Tonight topped networks with 7.1 million average viewers in 2023
- News magazine shows like 60 Minutes averaged 6.2 million viewers in 2023
- Cable news total day viewership dropped 10% to 2.8 million in 2023
- NBC Nightly News averaged 6.4 million viewers in 2023
- CBS Evening News viewership was 4.9 million average in 2023
- Morning news shows like Good Morning America had 2.4 million viewers in 2023
- Fox News Sunday averaged 1.8 million viewers in 2023
- Local news stations reached 80% household penetration in 2023
- 24-hour news channels accounted for 25% of TV news time in 2023
- Weather news segments made up 15% of local TV broadcasts in 2023
Broadcast News Interpretation
Traditional television news is still the dominant weatherman in our media landscape, but the forecast universally calls for scattered viewers and a high chance of further decline.
Digital News Consumption
- In 2023, 86% of U.S. adults reported getting news from a digital device at least occasionally
- Globally, 59% of people used online sources for news in 2023, up from 53% in 2022
- Smartphone usage for news reached 60% among under-35s in the UK in 2023
- 71% of Americans under 30 prefer news via social media over traditional outlets
- Online news video consumption grew by 15% year-over-year in 2023
- 48% of global internet users accessed news via apps in 2023
- In India, 88% of online news consumers used mobile devices exclusively in 2023
- U.S. digital news subscribers increased to 38 million in 2023, a 12% rise
- 64% of Europeans got news from online media daily in 2023
- News website traffic in the U.S. averaged 2.1 billion monthly visits in Q1 2023
- 77% of U.S. adults used YouTube for news in 2023
- Mobile news alerts were enabled by 41% of smartphone users globally in 2023
- Digital news paywalls blocked 20% more content accesses in 2023 than 2022
- 55% of Gen Z in the U.S. discovered news via TikTok in 2023
- Online news engagement time averaged 7.2 minutes per session in 2023
- 62% of Brazilians accessed news portals daily via mobile in 2023
- U.S. podcast news listeners grew to 42% of adults in 2023
- Newsletter subscriptions for news hit 50 million in the U.S. in 2023
- 49% of online news users paid for digital news in Nordic countries in 2023
- Algorithm-driven news feeds influenced 68% of young users' consumption in 2023
Digital News Consumption Interpretation
The news has decisively moved online, trading living room anchors for smartphone alerts, algorithmically curated for a generation that would rather scroll than switch channels, a shift so profound it’s putting up digital paywalls even as it breaks down the old gates of journalism.
Print Media
- U.S. newspaper circulation fell to 20.9 million daily in 2023, down 5%
- The New York Times print circulation was 384,000 daily in 2023
- Local daily newspapers declined by 2.5% to 1,200 in 2023
- Wall Street Journal print ads revenue dropped 8% to $500 million in 2023
- Sunday newspaper circulation averaged 30.8 million in 2023
- USA Today print sales were 1.3 million daily in 2023
- Regional papers like Boston Globe had 200,000 print readers weekly in 2023
- Newspaper ad revenue totaled $9.5 billion in 2023, down 6%
- Weekly community newspapers numbered 5,800 in 2023
- Print newsstand sales fell 12% to 4 million units monthly in 2023
- LA Times print circulation was 230,000 daily in 2023
- Washington Post print editions averaged 150,000 daily in 2023
- Newsprint consumption dropped 15% to 6 million tons in U.S. 2023
- Magazine news sections like Time had 1.5 million print circ in 2023
- 62% of print subscribers also used digital versions in 2023
- Rural weekly papers lost 300 titles since 2018, totaling 1,200 in 2023
- National newspaper ad pages fell 10% to 45,000 in 2023
- 28% of U.S. adults read a print newspaper weekly in 2023
Print Media Interpretation
The print newspaper industry is still breathing, but its obituary is being updated annually as digital pulls readers and revenue into a future that looks increasingly like a well-curated online comment section.
Public Trust
- Public trust in news was 40% globally in 2023, down 2 points
- 58% of Americans had little/no trust in mass media in 2023
- Trust in BBC news stood at 62% in the UK in 2023
- Only 32% of U.S. adults trusted national news media in 2023
- Global media trust index averaged 42% in 2023 Edelman survey
- 69% of Democrats trusted CNN, vs 12% Republicans in 2023
- Trust in local news was 57% in U.S. 2023, higher than national
- 24% of people worldwide avoided news due to distrust in 2023
- Fox News trust among Republicans was 72% in 2023 poll
- Trust in newspapers was 44% globally in 2023
- 51% distrusted social media news algorithms in 2023 EU survey
- NPR/PBS trust averaged 49% overall, 80% Democrats in 2023
- Misinformation belief affected 55% trust decline in 2023
- 37% of young adults trusted influencers over journalists in 2023
- Trust gap between left/right was 50 points for MSNBC in 2023
- Overall U.S. media trust hit historic low of 32% in 2023 Gallup
- 65% believed news orgs biased by politics in 2023 survey
- Trust in TV news fell to 39% in 2023
- International news trust was 48% vs 55% domestic in 2023
Public Trust Interpretation
The global state of news media resembles a bad relationship, where we're all stuck together in a house of mirrors, each clinging to the one distorted reflection that flatters us while loudly accusing everyone else's of being a lie.
Social Media News
- 45% of people aged 18-24 in the UK used Facebook for news weekly in 2023
- Twitter (X) news usage dropped to 19% globally in 2023 after rebranding
- Instagram Reels drove 25% of news discovery for Gen Z in 2023
- 54% of U.S. adults got news from Facebook in 2023
- TikTok news consumers reached 33% of young adults in 2023
- YouTube Shorts accounted for 40% of platform's news views in 2023
- WhatsApp was used for news by 38% in Brazil in 2023
- LinkedIn news engagement rose 18% to 25% of professionals in 2023
- Snapchat news stories reached 75 million users daily in 2023
- Reddit news subreddit subscribers grew 22% to 50 million in 2023
- Facebook video news views hit 8 billion daily in 2023
- Instagram news followers increased 15% for publishers in 2023
- Twitter misinformation flags rose 30% during elections in 2023
- 67% of under-35s trusted social media news less in 2023 survey
- TikTok banned news in some countries, dropping usage 10% in 2023
- Social media drove 50% of news traffic to sites in 2023
- 41% of global users shared news on social platforms weekly in 2023
- Only 14% of Republicans under 30 used Twitter for news in 2023
Social Media News Interpretation
Despite holding social media news in deep suspicion, we collectively use it as our primary information artery, with platforms fragmenting into tribal news feeds where our habits—from doomscrolling Reels to fact-checking on Reddit—outpace our trust at every turn.
Sources & References
- Reference 1PEWRESEARCHpewresearch.orgVisit source
- Reference 2REUTERSINSTITUTEreutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.ukVisit source
- Reference 3OFCOMofcom.org.ukVisit source
- Reference 4DIGITALNEWSREPORTdigitalnewsreport.orgVisit source
- Reference 5STATISTAstatista.comVisit source
- Reference 6ECec.europa.euVisit source
- Reference 7PRESSGAZETTEpressgazette.co.ukVisit source
- Reference 8GWIgwi.comVisit source
- Reference 9NIEMANLABniemanlab.orgVisit source
- Reference 10CHARTBEATchartbeat.comVisit source
- Reference 11MELTWATERmeltwater.comVisit source
- Reference 12JOURNALISMjournalism.orgVisit source
- Reference 13ADWEEKadweek.comVisit source
- Reference 14MEDIALANDSCAPESmedialandscapes.orgVisit source
- Reference 15NIELSENnielsen.comVisit source
- Reference 16TVNEWSCHECKtvnewscheck.comVisit source
- Reference 17PBSpbs.orgVisit source
- Reference 18HOLLYWOODREPORTERhollywoodreporter.comVisit source
- Reference 19DEADLINEdeadline.comVisit source
- Reference 20VARIETYvariety.comVisit source
- Reference 21FOXNEWSfoxnews.comVisit source
- Reference 22TVINSIDERtvinsider.comVisit source
- Reference 23MORNINGNEWSRATINGSmorningnewsratings.comVisit source
- Reference 24MEDIAMATTERSmediamatters.orgVisit source
- Reference 25RTNDArtnda.orgVisit source
- Reference 26STATEOFTHEMEDIAstateofthemedia.orgVisit source
- Reference 27NYTIMESnytimes.comVisit source
- Reference 28USNEWSDESERTSusnewsdeserts.comVisit source
- Reference 29W2OMEDIAw2omedia.comVisit source
- Reference 30EDITORANDPUBLISHEReditorandpublisher.comVisit source
- Reference 31GANNETTgannett.comVisit source
- Reference 32BOSTONGLOBEbostonglobe.comVisit source
- Reference 33NAAnaa.orgVisit source
- Reference 34FCCfcc.govVisit source
- Reference 35MAGAZINEmagazine.orgVisit source
- Reference 36LATIMESlatimes.comVisit source
- Reference 37WASHINGTONPOSTwashingtonpost.comVisit source
- Reference 38PAPERAGEpaperage.comVisit source
- Reference 39TIMEtime.comVisit source
- Reference 40APAapa.orgVisit source
- Reference 41BROOKINGSbrookings.eduVisit source
- Reference 42MNImni.netVisit source
- Reference 43BLOGblog.youtubeVisit source
- Reference 44NEWSnews.linkedin.comVisit source
- Reference 45FORBUSINESSforbusiness.snapchat.comVisit source
- Reference 46REDDITINCredditinc.comVisit source
- Reference 47ABOUTabout.fb.comVisit source
- Reference 48SOCIALBAKERSsocialbakers.comVisit source
- Reference 49TRANSPARENCYtransparency.twitter.comVisit source
- Reference 50EDELMANedelman.comVisit source
- Reference 51BBCbbc.comVisit source
- Reference 52GALLUPgallup.comVisit source
- Reference 53KNIGHTFOUNDATIONknightfoundation.orgVisit source
- Reference 54RASMUSSENREPORTSrasmussenreports.comVisit source
- Reference 55LSElse.ac.ukVisit source
- Reference 56DIGITAL-STRATEGYdigital-strategy.ec.europa.euVisit source
- Reference 57MEDIAPOSTmediapost.comVisit source
- Reference 58IPSOSipsos.comVisit source
- Reference 59HARRIS-POLLharris-poll.comVisit source
- Reference 60AP-NORCap-norc.orgVisit source
- Reference 61NEWSnews.gallup.comVisit source
- Reference 62ALLTECHSURVEYSalltechsurveys.comVisit source
- Reference 63REUTERSreuters.comVisit source
- Reference 64GLOBESCANglobescan.comVisit source