Digital News Report 2026. Episode 3: What the decline of old media can teach us

Offline news consumption across television, newspapers, and radio faces a sustained, global decline driven by distinct shifts in user behavior. While newspapers and radio struggle with both low adoption and retention, television and dedicated news websites maintain higher adoption rates but suffer from a significant failure to retain audiences, particularly among younger demographics. Data indicates that younger users are not transitioning into traditional media habits as they age; instead, older generations are increasingly adopting the consumption patterns of younger cohorts. This broader transition away from direct news sources toward social media and video networks reflects a profound change in the information environment, compounded by rising news avoidance. These trends suggest that the decline of traditional media is not a temporary fluctuation but a fundamental restructuring of how audiences interact with news.