BEHINDPRINT: News Avoidance: Why Readers Tune Out

BEHINDPRINT: News Avoidance: Why Readers Tune Out 

By Estrella Torres | August 3, 2026

In the last ten years of teaching journalism, one disturbing fact has been common among students: they do not source news and information from reputable media platforms anymore.  

The response varies, though, in terms of their sources of news, but most of them are social media platforms.  

The annual Reuters Digital News Report released its findings last June 2026, citing trust in news hitting a record low of 37 percent of people relying on news. This is not surprising.  

Another concern from the report, produced by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ), is news avoidance, which has risen by 2 percent compared to 2025, reaching 42%.  

Among the main findings of the report, which surveyed about 48 countries across six continents, are:  

1. Social media and video networks have overtaken news websites and apps  
2. AI chatbots are a new frontier in intermediated news consumption  
3. Online video continues to grow  
4. Creators are at the forefront of video growth  
5. Interest in news is falling  
6. Trust in news is at a low  

The media landscape has indeed evolved with digital acceleration and the shift of audiences’ interest in video content that entertains them, as well as the use of platforms that provide them income.  

However, the most disturbing part of the report is news avoidance, which is an intentional behavior to stop watching and to reduce scroll time for news coming from reputable media platforms such as TV, digital, and print.  

When I jumped into the field of development communication, I left journalism at a time when it was transitioning to digital platforms. I was a beat reporter covering human rights, foreign affairs, education, and labor for three newspapers back then when “Print was King.”  

I went on to serve as the focal communications head of two international development organizations and as a consultant for a UN organization. Then the pandemic hit.  

Unintentionally, I also avoided watching news on TV and digital platforms to protect myself from further anxiety, aggravating stress, and helplessness.  

Most of the news then was about the number of deaths, problems in hospital capacity, and issues of corruption in the procurement of government health kits.  

Journalism is defined by truth-telling, no matter how painful the reality gets. It promotes the discipline of verification, public interest, and independence.  

However, media institutions should come to terms with the fact that the protected standards in journalism have been countered by content creators and niche investigators being followed by millions, even without editors’ powerful review, scrutiny, and fact-checking.  

When things settled, with people starting to report to offices, I found myself at a crossroads. But it hit me hard. Is the industry still there?  

The journalism I know adheres to the ethics of the profession, the discipline of verification, independence, and accountability. But the most unsettling question is: do we still have an audience?  

Maybe the audience sector has likewise evolved and is seeking specialized content that appeals to their interests, tastes, and satisfaction. For truth-tellers, may we all have the strength to find light in all the news events that matter to people, particularly the voiceless and marginalized.  

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