A new study explores how Gen Z consumes and shapes news.
Social media is the primary news source for 91% of Gen Z users, according to a joint report by Google and Kantar titled Bridging the Gap: Reimagining News for Gen Z. The study surveyed over 4,000 Gen Z respondents (ages 15–28) across 40 markets and 8 language clusters, highlighting how this generation’s news habits differ significantly from older cohorts.
Key findings include:
- Digital-first and push-based: 96% of Gen Z are digital natives. For 65%, news discovery is incidental-often found while scrolling.
- Top platforms: Social media (91%) and video platforms (88%) dominate news consumption.
While creators capture more attention– with 48% following civic or niche creators vs. 43% for news outlets-trust remains higher in traditional news organisations (47%) compared to civic (38%) or niche (39%) creators.
Language preferences vary by format. English dominates text-based content (42%), but local languages are preferred for audio (57%) and video (56%) due to better comprehension, emotional resonance, and ease of sharing.
Notably, 84% of Gen Z have used Generative AI tools to explore news further-primarily for quick answers (43%), simplifying complex topics (38%), and translation (36%).
Kantar’s Biswapriya Bhattacharjee said Gen Z isn’t just consuming news-they’re curating experiences that are emotionally resonant and visually engaging. Google India’s Durga Raghunath added that newsrooms must evolve formats and tone to build lasting trust with this digitally native audience.
