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Understanding young news audiences at a time of rapid change

Abstract:: This study collates findings about young news audiences from years of Reuters Institute Digital News Report research. It finds that audiences aged 18-24 are increasingly different in their news attitudes and behaviours when compared to older generations. They are drawn to audiovisual social media platforms for their news consumption and are more likely than older people to embrace new formats and sources of news, from podcasts, to news creators, and now AI. They engage with traditional forms of news less. Our findings suggest news organisations might benefit from broadening the scope of what they cover and how they cover it in order to appeal to a generation that is social-first, interested in alternative storytelling formats, and who define news differently.

Publication status:: Published

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APA Style

Robertson, C., Ross Arguedas, A., Mukherjee, M., & Fletcher, R. (2026). Understanding young news audiences at a time of rapid change. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

MLA Style

Robertson, C, et al. Understanding Young News Audiences at a Time of Rapid Change. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 2026.

Chicago Style

Robertson, C, A Ross Arguedas, M Mukherjee, and R Fletcher. 2026. Understanding Young News Audiences at a Time of Rapid Change. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
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Files:: Robertson_et_al_2026_Understanding_young_news.pdf

(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 4.2MB, Terms of use)

Publisher copy:: 10.60625/risj-r08r-mt26

Authors

+ Robertson, C More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: SSD
Department:: Politics & Int Relations
Sub department:: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Role:: Author
ORCID:: 0000-0001-9461-8132

+ Ross Arguedas, A More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: SSD
Department:: Politics & Int Relations
Sub department:: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Role:: Author

+ Mukherjee, M More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: SSD
Department:: Politics & Int Relations
Sub department:: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Role:: Author

+ Fletcher, R More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: SSD
Department:: Politics & Int Relations
Sub department:: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Role:: Author
ORCID:: 0000-0002-5496-2112

Publisher:: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Place of publication:: Oxford
Publication date:: 2026-03-24
DOI:: 10.60625/risj-r08r-mt26
ISBN:: 9781914566295

Language:: English
Keywords:: news creators

Young people

young audiences

news audiences

news consumption

social media
Pubs id:: 2394841
Local pid:: pubs:2394841
Deposit date:: 2026-03-25
ARK identifier:: ark:/29072/ora_f9ac4548d3b040e6a26edea2b15683c6

Terms of use

Copyright holder:: Robertson et al
Copyright date:: 2026
Rights statement:: ©2026 The Authors. This paper is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Licence:: CC Attribution (CC BY)

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