News avoidance rises to 40% worldwide
More people are not asking for more news; they are trying to escape the feeling of being buried by it.
A lot of people are not tuning out because they are lazy. They are tuning out because the feed gives them too much to feel and too little they can use.
Across Reuters Institute markets, news avoidance rose from 29% in 2017 to 40% in 2025.
- news feels emotionally heavy
- people feel powerless after consuming it
- feeds mix facts with conflict and outrage
- summaries and explainers feel easier than raw updates
Your problem is probably not lack of information. It is not having a filter that turns information into decisions, calm, and useful action.
Behind the numbersOpen
Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report surveys online news consumers across dozens of markets each year. The measure asks whether people sometimes or often actively avoid the news. Reuters reports 29% in 2017, 36% in 2023, 39% in 2024, and 40% in 2025. Because the sample is online and market coverage changes over time, the number should be read as a strong cross-market signal, not a perfect world population estimate.