Essential Report
Frequency of reading news on technology platforms
Q. How frequently do you use technology platforms like Google and social media to search for and read news articles?
Mar’21 | Sep’20 | |
At least daily | 49% | 52% |
At least once a week | 24% | 22% |
At least once a month | 7% | 8% |
Less frequently than one a month | 10% | 6% |
Never | 11% | 11% |
Base (n) | 1,074 | 1,076 |
Total | Age Group | |||
18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
At least daily | 49% | 51% | 58% | 38% |
At least once a week | 24% | 28% | 25% | 20% |
At least once a month | 7% | 10% | 6% | 5% |
Less frequently than one a month | 10% | 7% | 6% | 17% |
Never | 11% | 4% | 6% | 20% |
Base (n) | 1,074 | 326 | 363 | 385 |
- Just under half (49%) of adult Australians use Google and social media to search and read news on a daily basis (down 3 percentage points since Sep’20). A further 24% use these platforms at least weekly.
- People aged 35-54 are the heaviest consumers of news through Google and social media, with 58% using these platforms on a daily basis.

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