News Platform Fact Sheet

Posted by Admin September 17, 2024 World

In a fragmented media environment with seemingly endless sources of information to choose from, Americans’ news habits have changed dramatically in the 21st century. Today, an overwhelming majority of Americans get news at least sometimes from digital devices. This fact sheet looks at the platforms Americans turn to for news, including patterns and trends.

News consumption across platforms

A large majority of U.S. adults (86%) say they at least sometimes get news from a smartphone, computer or tablet, including 57% who say they do so often. These figures are almost identical to the share who got news from digital devices in 2023.

Digital devices are by far the most common way Americans get news, although a majority (63%) get news from television at least sometimes. The portion of Americans who often get news from TV has stayed fairly steady over the last few years, now standing at 33%.

Americans turn to radio and print publications for news far less frequently. In 2024, just 26% of U.S. adults say they often or sometimes get news in print, the lowest number our surveys have recorded.

Bar charts showing news consumption across platforms

When asked which of these platforms they prefer to get news on, 58% of Americans say they prefer a digital device, far higher than the share who prefer TV (32%). Relatively few Americans prefer radio (6%) or print (4%).

News platform preferences

% of U.S. adults who prefer ____ for getting news

Year	Digital devices	Television	Radio	Print publications
2024	58%	32%	6%	4%
2023	58	27	6	5
2022	53	33	7	5
2021	50	36	7	5
2020	52	35	7	5

Note: “Digital devices” include smartphones, computers and tablets.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 15-Aug. 4, 2024.

News across digital platforms

There are several different pathways Americans use to get news on their digital devices. News websites or apps and search engines are the most common: About two-thirds of U.S. adults at least sometimes get news in each of these ways. A little more than half (54%) at least sometimes get news from social media, and 27% say the same about podcasts.

Bar charts showing news consumption across digital platforms

News websites or apps are also the most preferred source for news. About a quarter of U.S. adults (23%) say they prefer to get their news this way, compared with 18% who prefer social media, 12% who prefer search and 5% who prefer podcasts. The share of Americans who prefer social media has increased by 6 percentage points since 2023.

Digital news platform preferences

% of U.S. adults who prefer ___ for getting news

Year	Search	News websites	Social media	Podcasts
2024	12%	23%	18%	5%
2023	15	25	12	6
2022	12	23	13	4
2021	11	24	10	4
2020	12	26	11	3

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 15-Aug. 4, 2024.

Who uses each news platform?

News consumption across platforms varies by age, gender, race, ethnicity, educational attainment and political leaning. For example, Americans ages 50 and older are more likely than younger adults to turn to television and print publications for news – and less likely to use digital sources like social media or podcasts.

% of U.S. adults in each demographic group who get news at least sometimes from …

	Television	Radio	Print publications	Digital devices
Total	63%	42%	26%	86%
Men	61	42	25	86
Women	66	42	27	85
Ages 18-29	46	27	18	91
30-49	51	43	19	91
50-64	72	51	26	87
65+	86	43	43	70
White	65	44	28	86
Black	75	43	26	83
Hispanic	60	38	21	85
Asian*	47	25	18	91
High school or less	69	42	26	77
Some college	63	42	24	89
College+	57	42	28	92
Rep/Lean Rep	65	46	24	86
Dem/Lean Dem	63	39	29	87

* Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.
Note: White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic; Hispanic adults are of any race.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted July 15-Aug. 4, 2024.

% of U.S. adults in each demographic group who get news at least sometimes from …

	News websites or apps	Social media	Search	Podcasts
Total	66%	54%	66%	27%
Men	68	49	65	30
Women	64	59	66	24
Ages 18-29	62	78	74	34
30-49	70	64	70	34
50-64	71	45	65	23
65+	56	28	53	14
White	66	49	64	25
Black	64	58	70	29
Hispanic	64	67	65	31
Asian*	69	65	73	30
High school or less	55	54	60	22
Some college	66	57	68	27
College+	76	52	69	32
Rep/Lean Rep	64	55	65	28
Dem/Lean Dem	70	55	68	27

% of U.S. adults in each demographic group who prefer ___ for getting news

	Television	Radio	Print publications	Digital devices
Total	32%	6%	4%	58%
Men	29	6	4	60
Women	34	5	4	56
Ages 18-29	8	2	3	86
30-49	18	6	3	72
50-64	42	8	3	46
65+	60	5	8	27
White	33	7	5	55
Black	43	3	3	50
Hispanic	27	3	3	66
Asian*	14	3	2	79
High school or less	41	5	4	49
Some college	32	5	3	59
College+	21	6	5	67
Rep/Lean Rep	32	7	3	57
Dem/Lean Dem	30	5	5	59

% of U.S. adults in each demographic group who prefer ___ for getting news

	News websites or apps	Social media	Search	Podcasts
Total	23%	18%	12%	5%
Men	25	17	12	6
Women	20	19	13	3
Ages 18-29	19	43	17	6
30-49	27	22	16	7
50-64	26	7	10	3
65+	17	3	6	1
White	25	14	11	5
Black	15	20	12	3
Hispanic	18	31	13	4
Asian*	30	27	16	6
High school or less	13	19	12	4
Some college	21	19	14	5
College +	34	16	11	6
Rep/Lean Rep	21	18	13	6
Dem/Lean Dem	26	18	11	4

Find out more

This fact sheet was compiled by Research Assistant Christopher St. Aubin and Research Analyst Jacob Liedke.

Read the methodology and the topline.

Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This is the latest analysis in Pew Research Center’s ongoing investigation of the state of news, information and journalism in the digital age, a research program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Follow these links for more in-depth analysis of news consumption: