Ofcom: One-fifth of Brits use AI chatbots for news, but trust is limited
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of adults say they now access news using online intermediaries including social media, video-sharing platforms, search engines, news aggregators and AI tools, compared to just 57% who say they access news directly through publishers’ websites and apps.
That is one takeaway from Ofcom’s latest News Report, an annual survey of UK news consumption.
The report found that news is most commonly consumed via public-service broadcasters including the BBC, ITV and Sky, with Google and Meta likewise maintaining core positions in facilitating news consumption as intermediary platforms.
However, Heather Dansie, insight director at news media marketing trade body Newsworks, noted that Ofcom’s survey-based findings “can present an incomplete picture of how audiences actually engage with news”, in part because they do not include industry-recognised Pamco and Ipsos Iris data.
“Unlike survey-based reporting (which is claimed behaviour), these datasets use passive measurement (behavioural data) and capture a more accurate picture of digital news consumption, including much of the distributed publisher content,” she said. “As a result, they show digital monthly reach for our stakeholder news brands is at 72%, significantly higher than the figure reported by Ofcom.”
Given the limitations of Ofcom’s methodology, here are three takeaways from the latest News Report.
AI chatbots used by one-fifth of Brits for news, but trust remains wedded to traditional media
The claimed use of intermediaries for news consumption is notable. The most common intermediary is social media, namely video-sharing platforms like YouTube, Instagram Reels and TikTok, which are used by 60% of adults for news. In contrast, just 17% use news aggregators.
Of the platforms, Facebook remains the largest social platform for news (39%), but YouTube now ranks close behind (33%), with the gap between the two platforms halving over the past year as YouTube viewing on TV sets becomes more common.
The latest News Report marks the first time Ofcom asked respondents whether they use AI applications or services for news consumption. One-fifth (21%) of respondents said they had.
ChatGPT was the most popular AI chatbot for news consumption, used by 13% of respondents. It’s not clear whether survey respondents would consider Google’s AI Overviews or AI Mode search features as within this category, however.
The report noted that AI use for news is driven primarily among younger age groups, with adoption lagging among older individuals.
The cohort most using AI for news are 25-34s (37%), followed by 16-24s (30%) and 35-44s (28%). In contrast, 55-64s (12%), 65-74s (6%) and 75+ (3%) were below average.
Notably, while news is now commonly consumed via platforms, chatbots and other intermediaries, audiences still perceive traditional news outlets, be they on broadcast, radio or print, as more trustworthy, more impartial, and more accurate than news seen on social media or via AI.
News consumption habits beginning to even out between generations
While Ofcom concluded news consumption varies considerably by age, long-term trends show older generations are increasingly adopting news consumption habits more typically associated with younger cohorts.
Since 2018, for example, the share of 65-74-year-olds that consume news online has risen 35 percentage points, from 41% then to 76% this year.
In contrast, a smaller percentage of over-75s (47%) access news online, with that cohort overwhelmingly consuming news via TV (90%).
The trend is likely to continue as tech-savvy Gen Xers and Millennials age, taking their online-forward consumption habits with them.
Meanwhile, younger generations primarily consume news online, with 92% of 16-to-24-year-olds accessing news online.
The report found that all audiences, including those in older age groups, “are using a mix of traditional and online ways to access news”. However, the younger 25-to-34 cohort uses the widest range of news sources (nearly 18), with similarly high levels for 35-to-44-year-olds (16.3). Older adults consult a narrower range of news sources, especially those over 75 (6.5).
Dansie commented that the report “demonstrates the diversification of routes to news”, noting that publisher business models “continue to evolve and innovate to reflect this reality”.
She continued: “News brands now reach audiences through a whole host of vibrant digital environments including audio, video, social, newsletters as well as apps and websites.
Ofcom currently estimates that UK adults spend an average of 72 minutes a day consuming news, up substantially from 61 minutes last year. TV news and news accessed via social media and video sharing platforms (VSPs) each accounted for around a quarter of this time.
Local news valued, but not generally accessed
According to the report, local news remains highly valued. A net 71% of survey respondents called local reporting “important”, third-highest behind national news (78%) and breaking news (77%) and ahead of headlines (68%), international news (59%), political news (57%), sports news (36%) and celebrity news (16%).
However, how Brits’ access local news and information has shifted in recent years and is generally underserved. There is no media channel through which a majority of survey respondents said they find out about local news; indeed, the most common way to receive local news today was via word of mouth (54%, up nine percentage points from the year prior). This is followed by social media (48%) and TV (42%).