Figures released by the telecoms regulator Ofcom show that more than seven in 10 adults in the UK (71%) get their news online, compared to 70% on television. The regulator described the survey results as marking a “generational shift” in news consumption.

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For the first time, Britons are getting more news online than on television. Photo: Shutterstock

Ofcom cites social media as a key factor in the shift. More than half of UK adults (52%) get news via social media, up from 47% in 2023. The most popular platforms for news are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and X.

However, traditional news sources still beat their online rivals in key areas such as reliability, accuracy and fairness. BBC One remains the biggest news source, used by 43% of adults, although that is down sharply from 58% in 2019. Channel 4 has dropped out of the top 10 news sources.

Ofcom said it was conducting a review of public media content, focusing on news. It would look at how public broadcasters such as the BBC and ITV serve news audiences and consider regulatory or legal changes to support it.

Yih-Choung The, Ofcom’s director of strategy and research, said: “Television has dominated people’s news viewing habits since the 1960s and still has really high levels of trust. However, we are seeing a generational shift towards online news, which is often seen as less trustworthy.”

Among 16-24 year olds, social media is the dominant news source. Instagram is the leader with about 4 in 10 users, while TikTok is used by about a third of the younger audience. For 12-15 year olds, TikTok is the biggest news source.

(According to The Guardian)