The death of TV news: Online overtakes television bulletins as Australia's main source of news, with younger people now twice as likely to get their updates online
- Online news is being consumed by 2.8 per cent more people than in mid-2018
- In the same time period consumption of TV dropped by more than six per cent
- 77 per cent of Millennials said they got their news from online sources
Australians are increasingly switching to online news over daily television bulletins as their main source of news, with the internet now the top source of our news for the first time.
Data released by Roy Morgan on Tuesday showed that while TV continued to be popular with older people, younger Australians were getting their news online - and particularly through social media.
Since the previous survey in mid-2018, the usage of online news had risen by 2.8 per cent to 12.7 million Australians, or 60.6 per cent.
In the same period, the amount of people watching TV have dropped by more than six per cent to 12.4 million Australians, putting it below online news for the first time.
Consumption of online news has risen by 2.8 per cent since mid-2018 to 60.6 per cent of Australians
Millennials and Generation Z said they read online news at rates of 77 and 74 per cent respectively (stock image)
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Millennials and Generation Z reported they consumed news online at rates of 77 and 74 per cent, with social media used by 59 and 50 per cent respectively.
In contrast, only 40 per cent of Millennials and 36 per cent of Generation Z reported that they watched TV news.
Those aged 40 and above still had TV as their main source of news with 80 per cent of Baby Boomers and Pre-Boomers relying on free-to-air TV.
Only 40 per cent of Millennials and 36 per cent of Generation Z reported that they watched TV news
Newspapers remained a popular choice for that older set, with 55 per cent of pre-boomers and 44 per cent of baby boomers nominating papers as a news source.
That number plummeted to just 14 percent for millenials and 12 percent for Generation Z.
CEO of Roy Morgan, Michele Levine, said the coronavirus pandemic had been a time when people were paying close attention to news.
She said that those wishing to get a message out about coronavirus needed to be aware of the shift in news consumption.
Newspapers remained a popular choice for 55 per cent of pre-boomers who said it was their second ranked source of news while 44 per cent of baby boomers said the same (stock image)
'Many see the biggest challenge surrounding dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic as getting the message through to younger generations who may feel the virus doesn't pose a real threat to them,' she said.
'The internet is the primary source of news for around three-quarters of Millennials and Gen Z, far higher than other channels, and social media is the best channel to use to reach younger Australians.'
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