More than two-thirds of adult internet users in Germany access online news at least once a week. One in three uses platforms such as Meta, TikTok or Google for this purpose. This is according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026, whose German sub-study was conducted by the Leibniz Institute for Media Research.
The trend is particularly strong among young adults: for 60 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, social media is now the primary news source. 85 percent of this age group are regularly active on Instagram, and half of them also consume news there. Overall, social media accounts for 18 percent of all information offerings – overtaking linear television as the most important source.
However, only 17 percent of young adults get their information exclusively from social networks; most combine multiple sources. The long-term study, which has been running since 2017, shows a steady increase in platform usage across all age groups. At the same time, linear television, radio and printed newspapers are losing reach: only 32 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds regularly watch TV news, compared to 59 percent of the general population. Newspapers or magazines are still read by 17 percent of all respondents.
Trust in news remains divided: just under half of the population trusts the media overall, but only 13 percent consider AI-generated content and reports from social media to be serious – despite a sharp increase in usage. The study also finds a growing tendency to avoid news: 72 percent of respondents at least occasionally ignore critical topics. Coverage of migration and immigration is viewed particularly critically, while reporting on the war in Ukraine receives the best ratings.
Source: www.faz.net
