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Six years ago, Daymark took a comprehensive look at news media and the emerging trends. We discussed investment in investigative journalism, changing subscription models and the growth of podcasts, as well as a range of threats to reliable, credible news.
A lot has happened since: Covid lockdowns increased the shift towards digital platforms and fuelled a surge in demand for timely and expert updates. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence have brought both opportunities and challenges to the news landscape. And of course Donald Trump happened too, further blurring boundaries between truth and fiction.
Changes to how Australians consume, trust and respond to news have important ramifications for communications professionals looking to connect with their target audiences, or protect reputations.
Here’s a quick summary of what some of the latest research is showing about the news landscape today:
Australians are still interested in news…..
Nearly all Australians (95%) consume news, with most of us having accessed news from at least one source in the past week, according to a report from the Australian Communications and Media Authority.[1] And over half of Australians (51%) access news more than once a day. [2] Not only are we interested in news, we also tend to act on what we hear by sharing with friends or the wider public.[3]
…but our news sources are changing
While there are demographic differences, the shift from print to online continues.
More of us (79%) now access news online rather than more traditional sources such as television (58%), audio (42%) and print newspapers (18%).
For those aged 18–24 years, nearly half (46%) nominate social media as their main source of news. [4]
‘Newsfluencers’ are playing a key role in communicating news, while the ability of social media to rapidly amplify both positive and negative narratives also has to be recognised in any public relations strategy.
Regional and Free-to-Air services are in decline….
Australia now has 29 local government areas with no local news publishers, TV, or radio servicing the local community, according to the University of Canberra News and Media Research Centre’s Digital News Report 2024.[5] But user-generated community news pages have proliferated on social media channels such as Facebook, providing a different source of local news.
Meanwhile fewer people are watching traditional linear TV services. For the first time since 2017, less than half of Australians watched free-to-air (FTA) TV (46% from 52% in 2023), while for those aged 18-24 the percentage falls to just 19%.[6]
Alongside the take-up in subscription services, people are also accessing a wider range of video content providers (from 3.3 services in 2023 to 4.3 services on average in 2024). YouTube remains the most popular, watched by more than half (57%) of Australians.[7]
…..Radio is tuning out, podcasts are in
Overall radio listenership is also declining, with 65% having listening to radio each week (from 69% in 2023).[8]
But podcasts are now central to how Australian audiences consume with news and information. Nearly 6 million Australians now listen to podcasts weekly, according to the 2024 Australian Podcast Report released by Commercial Radio & Audio.[9] News is the third most popular podcast genre, after Society & Culture and True Crime, with 3.8 million average monthly listeners. Streem has some great graphics showing the rise of podcasts and the most listened to in Australia.
AI is influencing news, along with everything else
AI is transforming publishing, both in automating workflows and influencing the content that users engage with.
In 2023, News Corp Australia was already producing 3,000 articles a week using artificial intelligence, and we can assume use of AI has grown across all publishing platforms since then.
While it’s easy to see the benefits of using AI to automate repetitive tasks and generate simple stories like “Top 10 places to eat this weekend”, the risks of false or biased content are well known. When the BBC tested Chinese newcomer DeepSeek with a question about Tiananmen Square, the bot failed predictably.
AI can also use algorithms to serve up content that meets viewer preferences – whilst this tailored content might resonate with readers, it also dramatically lowers the viewpoints they are exposed to.
The echo chamber effect also means that once something is accepted as “truth” the perception is much harder to shift.
The research suggests Australians are much less comfortable with AI-generated news than audiences in other parts of the world.[10] And it appears most people are still able to discern true from false news, and err on the side of scepticism rather than credulity[11]. As AI-generated and curated content increases, however, discerning truth may become much harder.
If you are a corporate affairs professional, we trust that these facts and insights may be useful in engaging with your teams, arguing a case for a change in strategy or investment, or at your next trivia night!
[1] Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Communications and Media Authority) (2024a), ‘How We Access News, February 2024’
[2] Park, S., Fisher, C., McGuinness, K., Lee, J., McCallum, K., Cai, X., Chatskin, M., Mardjianto, L. & Yao, P. (2024). Digital News Report: Australia 2024. Canberra: News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra.
[3] Anderson, K. J. (2024). What audiences do with news: a broader definition of news consumption. Media International Australia, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X241270608
[4] Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Communications and Media Authority) (2024b), ‘How We Watch and Listen to Content – Executive Summary and Key Findings, Dec 2024
[5] Park et al (2024)
[6] ACMA (2024b)
[7] ACMA (2024b)
[8] ACMA (2024b)
[9] https://cra.au/podcast-trends-report
[10] Park et al (2024)
[11] Pfänder, J., Altay, S. Spotting false news and doubting true news: a systematic review and meta-analysis of news judgements. Nat Hum Behav (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02086-1
