As the web turns 30, what impact has it had on news consumption?

As the World Wide Web turns 30, news audiences who go directly to sources of news are in the minority according to Reuters Institute research. Findings from our Digital News Report 2018 see consumers instead accessing news through online 'side doors' such as search engines, aggregators and social media. A total of 65% said this was the main way they came across news in the last week, compared to 32% who go directly to the outlet publishing the news. These findings make clear the impact that the web has had on news consumption patterns.

Almost a quarter of audiences find their news mainly through search engines, with a similar proportion via social media. The proportion of under-35s using side-door access rises to 73%.