The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026, published on June 16, brings important insights into how people consume news and use media more broadly. The research was conducted on a sample of more than 100,000 people worldwide in January and February 2026, and this year’s report also includes results for Serbia.
Overall, the report once again confirms what media organizations are already seeing in practice: audiences are not necessarily moving away from news, but the way they access news is changing dramatically.
I have highlighted five findings from the report that seem particularly important for everyone working in media, communications, digital platform development, audience development and content distribution.
Platforms have become the main gateway to news
For the first time at the global level, social media and video platforms have overtaken news websites, apps and TV channels as the most common way people access news. This means that, for a large part of the audience, the “front page” is no longer a media homepage, but YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or another platform. For media organizations, this is not just a change in distribution. It is a change in the relationship with the audience. The way we have understood audiences and how they come to news has changed dramatically. Although media companies have been preparing content for social networks for years, it is now clear that this will no longer be just an “additional task” in the production and distribution of news, but a necessity.
This is no longer just a story about young people
The shift is most visible among younger audiences, but it is happening across all age groups. One particularly interesting finding is that 56% of young people aged 18 to 24 have never regularly read printed newspapers, nor have they practically ever held them in their hands. Even more importantly, younger audiences are unlikely to adopt the media habits of their parents. The opposite is more likely to happen: older audiences will increasingly adopt the habits of younger ones. In the section of the research related to Serbia, it is clear that the student protests changed media consumption habits among the older population as well. Older audiences moved closer to platforms and social networks, rather than traditional media, out of the need to be informed more quickly and clearly.
Video has become a central format for news consumption
As many as 77% of respondents globally watch online news video every week. This is a major change. However, audiences most often do not watch this video on media websites, but on third-party platforms: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. It is also important to note that the growth of video news is not only about short clips. On YouTube, part of the audience also watches longer formats, full shows and live broadcasts. This opens up significant opportunities for media organizations that are able to think strategically about video — instead of treating social video merely as “cutting out the most interesting parts of a TV show”.
Trust in media is at its lowest level in the last decade
Overall trust in news has fallen to 37%, the lowest level since measurement began in 2015. In the United States, only 25% of respondents say they trust most news most of the time. This may be the most important signal for the media industry: it is not enough to simply be present on platforms. Media organizations must simultaneously build credibility, transparency, consistency and clear editorial value. In Serbia, trust in media is extremely low. Last year it stood at 27%, while this year it has fallen to 22%, placing Serbia among the countries with the lowest levels of trust in news and media in general.
AI chatbots are becoming a new gateway to news, but trust remains low
Weekly use of AI chatbots for news has increased from 7% to 10% globally, and reaches 16% among people under the age of 35. This is not yet a mass shift comparable to social media or video platforms, but it is a clear signal of new user behavior. Interestingly, people who use AI chatbots for news are not necessarily passive or uninterested in media. On the contrary, they are often engaged news consumers who are looking for additional explanation, verification and context. For media organizations, this is an important message: AI will not only change content production, but also the way audiences search for, verify and understand information.
My conclusion is that media can no longer think only in terms of the question: “How do we bring the audience back to our website?” The much more important questions are: How do we remain relevant, recognizable and credible wherever audiences actually consume news today?
This means a stronger platform strategy, more serious work with video formats, a better understanding of younger audiences, greater investment in trust, and clear preparation for AI as a new layer of news distribution and search.
The Digital News Report 2026 does not suggest the end of media. Rather, it signals the end of the old way of reaching audiences — and the beginning of a major transformation in how news is created and distributed.
