Audiences for traditional media such as television, print, and news websites continue to shrink, while content creators and video and social media platforms are gaining ground, according to a new report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
The report also highlights the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots as a new gateway to information, especially among younger people. “It’s clear this will become an important (and disruptive) way for people to access news,” Nic Newman, a journalist and author of the report, told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR).
The Digital News Report, now in its 14th annual edition, was commissioned by the Reuters Institute to better understand the media landscape in various countries. The research was carried out by the polling company YouGov through an online questionnaire answered by a significant sample of people across six continents and 48 markets from late January to early February 2025.
LJR summarizes the report’s findings about the media industry and news consumption in Latin America. The report includes results from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Peru.
One of the report’s main findings is that while traditional media outlets are declining, alternative sources like video platforms are thriving. Influencers, traditional media, and even politicians are increasingly using video.
In Argentina, live online video, which blends news and entertainment, surged during the pandemic and continues to grow. There, 8% of respondents cite Luzu TV, which has a YouTube channel with more than 2 million subscribers, as a news source.
In Brazil, leading newspapers Folha de S. Paulo and O Estado de S. Paulo have invested in biweekly and even daily videocasts, attracting millions of listeners.
In Colombia, TikTok saw the fastest growth in social media news consumption, with 27% of respondents using it—an increase of 5 percentage points from last year. The same trend was seen in Peru, where TikTok use rose by 6 points over the past year.
In Mexico, TV anchors and newspaper columnists are building personal audiences on YouTube. Examples include the influential daily show Sin Máscaras, hosted by the 22-year-old journalist Manuel Pedrero, and Sin Embargo, a channel from the online outlet by the same name, with 2.25 million subscribers. Sin Embargo’s leading journalists, Álvaro Delgado and Alejandro Páez, have become regular voices in traditional media such as Canal Once, Mexico’s most prominent public TV channel.
“Dependence on social media is high across the region and mainstream brands are pretty weak online,” said Newman. “Across the region, we see politicians trying to build direct connection with audiences through social media and live online press conferences, while criticizing mainstream media, or at least those that ask difficult questions.”
Globally, trust in news remains stable at 40% for the third consecutive year. Among the six Latin American countries analyzed, average trust in news is 36.3%. None of the countries in the region saw an improvement. Peru and Chile held steady, while trust declined in the others: Brazil dropped 12 points, Colombia 8, Argentina 4, and Mexico 1.
“In the early ’90s, journalism was highly prestigious and it was unusual to distrust published information,” Abel Escudero Zadrayec, a Reuters Institute consultant and the report’s Spanish translator, told LJR. “Today the opposite is almost true. Beyond contextual factors (economic, technological, educational), we journalists should accept the headline we deserve: ‘We’ve been doing something pretty wrong.’ ”
Still, the report says audiences turn to traditional media when they want to verify what happened and determine whether information is accurate. In most Latin American countries, when it comes to breaking news, the public places greater trust in traditional media than in influencers. In Brazil, for instance, people cited Globo (including Jornal Nacional/ G1), Band, Record, and CNN Brasil as their go-to sources.
“Trust is not the same as consumption,” Newman said. “People consume things for all kinds of reasons including entertainment, and accuracy is not always as important in those areas as it is in politics or conflicts.”
For the first time, the report includes responses about the use of AI chatbots. In most countries, audiences remain skeptical of AI in journalism and feel more comfortable when there is human oversight. Globally, 7% of respondents—and 6% in Latin America—say they currently use generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT to access news. That figure rises to 15% globally among people under 25.
“What is not yet clear is how people are actually using them for news consumption,” Amy Ross Arguedas, a researcher at the Reuters Institute and one of the report’s authors, told LJR. “For example, are they asking for the day’s top headlines? Or are they requesting more information about a specific story?”
The report shows evidence that several media outlets are exploring ways to use AI to better personalize content. In Colombia, AI is being used to attract audiences, monetize content, and develop tools for information delivery and fact-checking.
In Brazil, newsrooms are using AI more broadly—for translation, turning written content into short videos, and producing insights from large volumes of unstructured data. Brazilian outlets such as Grupo Estado and Grupo Globo have published guidelines on AI use, emphasizing that it must always be under direct human supervision.
In recent months, media outlets in Latin America have been hit by the suspension of U.S. funding, forcing them to diversify their sources of income.
The digital subscription business remains in the red. The proportion of people who pay for news does not exceed 18% in Latin America, according to the report. Peru has the highest rate (18%) and Chile the lowest (10%).
In Argentina, only 11% of respondents said they paid for online news in 2025. The most visited news sites, such as Infobae and the cable news channel TN, do not offer paid subscription options.
In Mexico, some outlets have opted for hybrid financing models. El Universal, the country’s oldest newspaper, combines print subscriptions with premium online content (El Universal Plus) and digital advertising.
According to Newman, the current challenge is how to manage the reduction in foreign subsidies. This will affect smaller organizations, which will need to actively diversify their revenue streams, he said.
“Most people aren’t prepared to pay for online news, but some will especially for distinctive content that is valuable to them,” Newman said. “But shifting models to direct payment will take time and won’t work for everybody.”
