Where Americans Get Their News

Digital devices are the news source for the great majority of Americans. Fully 86 percent of the public "sometimes" or "often" gets news from a smartphone, computer, or tablet, according to a Pew Research Center survey. The 60 percent majority "often" gets news from these digital devices. 

Percent getting news sometimes/often from...

Digital devices: 86%

Television: 68%

Radio: 50%

Print: 32%

Not only is digital the primary platform for getting news, but people prefer it that way. When asked which platform they prefer as a news source, 52 percent say digital devices, 35 percent say television, 7 percent radio, and 5 percent print.

Source: Pew Research Center, More than Eight-in-Ten Americans Get News from Digital Devices

Few Follow the News "Very Closely"

Most Americans are not news junkies. Among adults aged 18 or older, only about one in three say they follow national or local news "very closely," according to Pew Research Center.

By age, young adults are least interested in the news, with only 15 percent following local or national news closely. Interest in the news rises with age. Among people aged 65 or older, 49 percent follow national news and 42 percent follow local news very closely.

Follow national (local) news "very closely"
Aged 18 to 29: 15% (15%)
Aged 30 to 49: 25% (28%)
Aged 50 to 64: 36% (38%)
Aged 65-plus: 49% (42%)

Source: Pew Research Center, Older Americans, Black Adults and Americans with Less Education More Interested in Local News

Facebook Is a Big News Source for Millennials

The Millennial generation gets most of its news from the internet, according to a 2018 survey by the GenForward Project at the University of Chicago. The percentage of Millennials who say they get most of their news online ranges from a low of 61 percent among Hispanics to a high of 87 percent among Asians.

But what does it mean to get most of your news online? Does it mean going directly to a news site, or to a news aggregator (such as Reddit), or to a social media site (such as Facebook)? According to the results, the answer is yes to all three. Among Millennials who get most of their news from the internet, there is a fairly even split among the three types of news sources...

Get most news from a news website
Asians: 25%
Blacks: 30%
Hispanics: 28%
Non-Hispanic Whites: 40%

Get most news from a news aggregator
Asians: 31%
Blacks: 15%
Hispanics: 26%
Non-Hispanic Whites: 25%

Get most news from social media
Asians: 43%
Blacks: 54%
Hispanics: 44%
Non-Hispanic Whites: 35%

Regardless of race or Hispanic origin, Facebook dominates social media sites as a source of news for Millennials, according to the report. In the past week, 62 percent of Hispanics, 64 percent of Blacks, 67 percent of non-Hispanic Whites, and 74 percent of Asians have read news stories or headlines on Facebook.

Source: GenForward, Millennials and Technology: An Overview of Usage, News Consumption, the Future of Work, and Public Policy