The eleventh annual Digital News Report: Australia has been released through the News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra. The survey was conducted by YouGov using an online questionnaire between 16 January and 5 February 2025 of 530,426 adult Australians. Each report is a must read for journalists, media organisations, policymakers, and professional communicators around how news is consumed and received in Australia.

Key findings include:

• One in four say social media is their main source of news, overtaking online news websites.
• Facebook and TikTok are seen as a major misinformation threat among social platforms.
• Consumers are interested in AI news summaries but also see AI-produced news as cheaper and less trustworthy than human-produced news.
• 18–24 year olds are increasingly watching news videos on TikTok (37%) and Instagram (34%).
• People with news literacy education have higher trust in news (53%) with only 24% of Australians having news literacy education.
• Interest in local news continues to rise – up 6% since 2020
• Globally Australians are the most concerned about misinformation with Australian news audiences less polarised than American.

For the first time, the survey included Podcasts and AI chatbots as response options. Nine percent of respondents reported using podcasts to access news in the past week, while 6% said they had used AI chatbots as a source of news.

Australian news audiences are less polarised than Americans

With so much international attention on the US since the election of President Donald Trump in November 2024, this year the report compared the two countries on key news consumption trends and attitudes. There are significant differences. Trust in news is much lower in the US and use of social media is much higher. US audiences are much more interested in politics and are more polarised in their news consumption than in Australia. These differences are clearly reflected in the outcome of recent elections in both countries.

Social media and podcasting

• Facebook for news has grown (38%, +6) and remains the top social media source for news.
• Instagram (40%) and TikTok (36%) are the top two platforms for news among 18-24-year-olds.
• Under 35s on TikTok prefer news shared by influencers, creators, and ordinary people.
• Fewer people are sharing news face-to-face (34%, -4) or on social media (9%, -5).
• Most podcast listeners (83%) say podcasts help them understand issues more deeply.

Trust in news

• General trust (43%) and distrust (32%) in news continue to fluctuate within the long-term trend.
• People with news literacy education have higher trust in news (53%) than those without (41%).
• Trust in my news has fallen slightly among heavy news users (57%, -3) and those who pay for it (68%, -2).
• ABC is the most trusted news brand (60%) in Australia.
• Audiences say less bias, more accuracy, transparency and verification would lift their trust in news.

Paying for news

• Paying for news remains steady at 22% (+1).
• 73% of people who don’t pay are unlikely to pay, even when offered different bundling options.
• 23% of U35s are likely to pay if a bundle includes multiple news brands.
• People with news literacy education are three times more likely to pay for news (45%) than those without (15%).
• Australian news podcast listeners are globally the most willing to pay for them (59%).

News interest, local news and avoidance

• Interest in local news has risen since 2020 (51%, +6).
• More than half (54%) say they accessed local news stories in the last week.
• Social media has become the most popular source of local news for many Australians.
• News avoidance remains steady (69%, +1).
• Under 35s are more than twice as likely than older people to avoid news because it’s hard to understand.

AI and news

• Australians are becoming more comfortable with news produced mainly by AI (21%, +4).
• News subscribers are the most likely to use AI chatbots for news.
• Consumers see AI-produced news as cheaper and more up to date but less trustworthy than human-produced news.
• 29% are interested in personalised AI news summaries.
• People are more interested in personalised weather (59%) and video streaming (50%) than news (45%).

The full Digital News Report: Australia 2025 can be downloaded here: https://apo.org.au/node/330740