The annual Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026 is out. It shows that, for the first time in the report’s history, social media and video networks have overtaken news sites and apps as a source of news.

Reflecting this, a NiemanLab article suggested digital newspapers are coming to an end, noting: “News sites are rapidly becoming the newspapers of the digital age. And you know what happened to newspapers.”

Add AI to this mix.

New York Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned that while the global news industry has limped through the challenges brought by the Internet, smartphones, and social media, “the AI disruption is poised to be even more damaging.”

No one argues the winds are shifting. While news consumption on AI platforms is still in its infancy, it is steadily growing, especially among young people.

The Reuters Institute’s report finds roughly 10% of people use AI chatbots for news, up from 7% in 2025. Approximately 16% of those younger than 35 have used AI chatbots for news. However, only 1% of those surveyed say AI is their main source of news, “suggesting it currently plays a complementary role for most users,” according to the report.

Our report showed approximately 12% of New Zealanders have used ChatGPT as a source of news, and 4% used other forms of AI as a source of news. Similar to the Reuters report, we found AI assistants were the main source of news for 1% of New Zealanders.

The use of AI chatbots is uneven across markets, making generalisations about AI difficult. While usage of AI assistants for news saw a “double year-on-year” growth in South Korea, Greece, and Spain, there was no growth in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

The report found AI chatbot click-through rates are much lower than from social media and search, with only 4% of those surveyed say they click through to news sources from AI.

Recent Chartbeat data showed that while ChatGPT referrals have grown “more than 200% year-over-year, AI platforms still account for less than 1% of total network pageviews.” That data also showed news and media sites gain the most total pageviews from AI platforms but also the least engagement per article. The problem is audiences leave news sites quickly.

The Reuters Institute’s study shows of those news consumers who turn to AI assistants, 35% do so to get the latest news, 34% use them to summarise information, and 30% “to make news easier to understand.” Furthermore, roughly one-third ask AI assistants to assess the reliability of news sources.

As Amy Ross Arguedas wrote in the Reuters report, news organisations can easily respond to the demands of audiences with short time spans. But what makes the AI environment challenging for news industry is that while responding to audiences, there is a danger journalism will start to simulate AI platforms and their functions instead of concentrating on building robust journalism.

Banner art: Adobe Stock by Mer_Studio.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .