Rowegie Abanto

Citizens use their phones in Quezon City amid the modified enhanced community quarantine on August 16, 2020. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — Filipinos are increasingly turning to AI chatbots and podcasts to get their news, and more of them now say they prefer watching news over reading it, according to the <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2025/dnr-executive-summary#ftn5">Digital News Report 2025</a> released Tuesday.</p><p>The <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2025/philippines">annual report</a>, said to be the world&#x27;s largest comparative international poll of news habits, said that &quot;video continues to grow in importance as a source of news.&quot;</p><p>&quot;In the Philippines, Thailand, Kenya, and India more people now say they prefer to watch the news rather than read it, further encouraging the shift to personality-led news creators,&quot; it said.</p><p>The study, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, was conducted from mid-January to the end of February 2025. </p><p>The profile on the Philippines for the Digital News Report was written by Yvonne T. Chua, an associate professor of journalism at the University of the Philippines Diliman.</p><p>It polled 97,055 online respondents across 48 markets in six continents, including 2,014 adult Filipinos, Chua said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>AI CHATBOTS, PODCAST FOR NEWS</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Some 12 percent of Filipinos surveyed said they also turn to news podcasts, and 9 percent said they use AI chatbots for news.</p><p>The yearly survey found &quot;for the first time&quot; that significant numbers of people were using chatbots to get headlines and updates, director Mitali Mukherjee wrote.</p><p>The Reuters Institute report also pointed to traditional media — TV, radio, newspapers and news sites — losing ground worldwide to social networks and video-sharing platforms.</p><p>While the study found that audiences on average across all markets still prefer text, around a third say they prefer to watch the news online, and more than one in ten say they prefer to listen.</p><p>Almost half of 18-24-year-olds report that social media like TikTok is their main source of news, especially in emerging countries like India, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand.</p><p>The shift in news consumption habits has hit outlets&#x27; bottom lines.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>OVERALL TRUST IN NEWS; DECLINE OF TV AND PRINT</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Professor Chua said that while the survey data show that &quot;overall trust in news improved after [former president] Rodrigo Duterte neared the end of his presidency in 2022 and has remained steady since, trust in nearly all media brands covered in this report slid over the past year.&quot;</p><p>She said this is &quot;amid intensified political disinformation, at least some of which is aimed at mainstream outlets for allegedly biased coverage.&quot;</p><p>Meanwhile, the decline of TV and print in the Philippines &quot;has plateaued as Filipinos seek news on the worsening political polarisation,&quot; said Chua. </p><p>But social media remained as Filipinos&#x27; preferred news source.</p><p>&quot;Engagement with traditional media sources such as TV, print, and news websites continues to fall, while dependence on social media, video platforms, and online aggregators grows,&quot; the study wrote.</p><div><em></em><strong>—with Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><em></em><em></em><br/></div>

<p>Filipinos are increasingly turning to AI chatbots and podcasts to get their news, and more of them now say they prefer watching news over reading it, according to the <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2025/dnr-executive-summary#ftn5">Digital News Report 2025</a> released Tuesday.</p>

Filipinos are increasingly turning to AI chatbots and podcasts to get their news, and more of them now say they prefer watching news over reading it, according to the Digital News Report 2025 released Tuesday.

Filipinos turning to AI, videos for news

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Filipinos turning to AI, videos for news

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 17, 2025 12:04 PM PHT

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