10 facts about the changing digital news landscape

As journalists and media practitioners gather for the annual Online News Association Conference, here are 10 key findings from recent Pew Research Center surveys and analyses that show how these rapid digital shifts are reshaping Americans’ news habits:

1) About four-in-ten Americans now often get news online.
2) Mobile is becoming a preferred device for digital news.
3) Long-form journalism has a place in today’s mobile-centric society.
4) More than half (55%) of US smartphone users get news alerts, but few get them frequently.
5) Social media, particularly Facebook, is now a common news source.
6) Overall, more digital news consumers get their news online in the process of doing other things online (55%) than specifically seek out the news (44%), though there are differences by social media platform.
7) Few Americans trust social media as a news source.
8) While many Americans get news from social media, few are heavily engaged with news.
9) In the digital news environment, the role of friends and family is prominent – and for some it’s an echo chamber.
10) Three-in-ten Americans turn to 2016 presidential candidates’ digital messages for news and information about the election – and the candidates’ social media posts outpace their websites and emails as sources of this news.


10 facts about the changing digital news landscape