Is news dead?

Folks are changing the way they consume news — shocker, that’s partly why a bunch of diplomats quit their jobs to build Intrigue.

But exactly how that’s playing out will have real implications for our world. So we chewed thoughtfully on our thick-rimmed glasses while reading all 171 pages of the latest Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025, all so you don’t have to. 

Here are four of the most interesting stats from the report: 

• 34% 

That’s how many Americans now use social media as their main source of news, second only to Brazilians at 35%. And while younger folks are driving that shift, all age groups are leaning more into social media at the expense of traditional website and TV news.

• 17% 

That’s the global proportion of folks now using TikTok for news each week, up 4% in just a year. The China-owned platform’s role is soaring in Southeast Asia, with (for example) half of Thailand using it for news (up 10% in a year), while Africa hovers around 30%. 

These numbers are way above what we’re seeing in the US (12%) and Europe 11%). But even more intriguingly, 48% of respondents still consider TikTok a major source of BS.

• 15% 

That’s the percentage of under-25s using AI to access the news each week — that still feels pretty low, and it’s even lower when averaged across all ages (7%). But it’s growing. 

And interestingly, respondents offered mixed views on what this means for the news: folks expect AI will make the news cheaper, more accessible, and more up-to-date, but also less transparent, less accurate, and less trustworthy. 

• 40%

That’s the number of people who now say they just avoid the news. Their top reasons? It’s a buzz-kill (39%), it’s overwhelming (31%), it’s war-obsessed (30%), and (for 14% of under-35s) it’s also just too hard to understand. 

If only there was some kind of free daily briefing that gets you what you need to know, with ohhhh just a light sprinkling of mixed-quality jokes and melancholic optimism 🤔