Podcast Listeners Obtain News from Nontraditional Content

An article in Inside Radio reported on the findings of a study conducted by the Reuters Institute.  The analysis found that younger listeners are not obtaining news from traditional news podcasts.  The article noted:

"A new report from the Reuters Institute finds that while people 18 to 24 are more engaged with podcasts than older groups, that interest is not translating into strong demand for news podcasts. That gap reflects a broader shift in how younger audiences define and engage with content.  Rather than seeking out traditional news programming, they are gravitating toward formats that blend information with entertainment, personality, and storytelling."

In fact, one of the key findings is that younger viewers are shifting to social media to obtain news. 

Young people (aged 18–24) are now clearly social-first rather than online-first when it comes to news.  Eleven years ago in 2015, young people’s main way of accessing news was through online news websites and apps of publishers.  Today, their main source is social media.

While the data relate to listening and viewing in Britain, the analysis is applicable to the audiences in the United States.

You can see the article in Inside Radio here.

You can access the study from the Reuters Institute for Journalism at the University of Oxford here.