One in five UK adults are now using AI tools such as ChatGPT to keep up to date with the latest news, according to United Kingdom’s communication regulator Ofcom’s annual report on the nation’s news consumption habits.

Ofcom’s News Report 2026 — an updated version of which was unveiled yesterday — reveals dramatic shifts in how news is being distributed and consumed across the UK’s fragmented media landscape.

With a multitude of online intermediaries, commentators, influencers and specialist outlets, as well as traditional news brands and publishers competing for attention, UK adults now encounter around 12 different sources for news on average each month, rising to 18 among 25-34-year-olds.

Digital platforms and gatekeepers play an increasingly central role in how we discover news content, an Ofcom statement yesterday on the news consumption report stated.

More than eight in ten adults (82 percent) accessed news via online sources in the past month — more than any other platform — although television remains a major route to news (79 percent), particularly among older audiences.

Similarly, of the estimated 72 minutes that adults spend each day consuming news, most time is now spent on online platforms (34 minutes), compared to 18 minutes for television.

Almost three-quarters (73 percent) of adults now access news stories through online intermediaries, including social media, video-sharing platforms, search engines, news aggregators and AI tools.

In contrast, around six in ten (57 percent) get their news directly through news publishers’ websites and apps.

For the first time, Ofcom said, the research includes a closer look into people’s use of AI intermediaries to access news. It finds that 21 percent of adults have used an AI app or service for this purpose in the past month, with use concentrated among younger adults and people from more affluent households.

ChatGPT was the most popular AI tool for news, used by 13 percent of adults. But while AI is becoming a common route to news, people remain cautious.

Over half of the adults surveyed (56 percent) reported that they were less trustful of an AI-written news story than one written by a person.

News consumption today is increasingly passive –– often reaching people incidentally and continuously as they scroll through social media via personalised feeds, shares and recommendations, Ofcom said.

Social media and video-sharing platforms remain the most common intermediary route to news, used by 60 percent of adults in the past month, rising to 78 percent among both 16-24-year-olds and children aged 12-15.

Facebook remains the most encountered platform for news — used by 39 percent of adults in the past month — although YouTube (33 percent) is rapidly gaining ground, with the gap between the two platforms halving since 2025.

Despite the increasing role social media intermediaries play, very few people (2 percent) rely on them exclusively for their news diet.

While social media, video-sharing platforms and AI are important gateways to news, much of the content encountered via these channels still comes from established broadcasters, rather than native creators.

The BBC remains the most used news provider overall, reaching 80 percent of adults in the past month, including its news seen on social media as well as directly on its own services.

It also remains popular among younger adults, with BBC news content accessed by two thirds of 16-24-year-olds.

While audiences are embracing new routes to news, they remain discerning about where they place their trust. Broadcast television and radio continue to generally outperform online platforms for trustworthiness, accuracy and impartiality.

Additional research conducted in the aftermath of the May 2026 local, mayoral, Scottish Parliament and Senedd elections also found that traditional media remained particularly important during major democratic events.

Television was the most-used source of election news, reaching 62 percent of people who were aware of the elections, nearly double the reach of online sources (33 percent).

Ian Macrae, Director of Market Intelligence, said: “In today’s ‘always on’ environment, most people don’t go direct to the news, the news is coming to them through different online intermediaries, increasingly AI-enabled.

“But while audiences are discovering news in new ways, they remain discerning about the sources they trust, particularly in moments like elections, and public service media brands continue to play a vital role.

Ofcom said this year’s survey uses an updated methodology, designed to better reflect modern news consumption behaviours.