While about one-third of Americans are using social media to get their news, there are others who are looking to podcasts as a source of news. Data from Pew Research Center shows that nearly one-quarter (23%) of US adults get their news at least sometimes from podcasts.
The majority share (56%) of the more than 11,100 US adults (ages 18+) surveyed report never having gotten news from podcasts in 2021. That’s actually a larger share than who said the same in 2020 (53%). What has increased between 2020 and 2021, albeit slightly, is the share of adults who said they got their news from podcasts often (6% in 2020 to 7% in 2021).
Although young adults (ages 18-29) only account for 15% of the adult podcast audience in the US, they are the most likely age group to say they get their news from podcasts, with 33% doing so at least sometimes. By comparison, 3 in 10 (29% of) 30-49-year-olds get news from podcasts at least sometimes. And, while Nielsen data indicates that news is the most listened to genre of podcast for adults 55 and older, only 18% of adults ages 50-64 and 12% of those 65+ say they get their news from podcasts.
Men (25%), college graduates (28%) and adults with a household income of $80K or more (26%) are also more likely than average to look for their news from podcasts. On the other hand, adults with a high school education or less (17%) and those with an income of less than $30K are the least likely to get news from podcasts.
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About the Data: Findings are based on a July-August 2021 survey of 11,178 US adults (18+).
