MANILA: Apart from the rise of content generated by artificial intelligence, several Filipinos have also begun turning to AI chatbots to get their news, based on the findings of an international research publication.
The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025, released on Tuesday (June 17), highlighted two “major emerging themes” in the global consumption of news, one of which is the use of AI chatbots as a source of news.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism Director Mitali Mukherjee wrote that this is the “first time” AI chatbots has been categorised as a distinct source of news since 2012.
In the Philippines, nine per cent of Filipinos surveyed said they use AI chatbots for news.
“While the numbers are still relatively small overall, they are markedly higher for young audiences,” Mukherjee said.
Meanwhile, the other central emerging theme across the globe is the rise of an alternative media ecosystem, particularly, YouTubers, TikTokers, and podcasters.
In the Philippines, 12 per cent of Filipinos surveyed said they now also turn to podcasts for news.
Meanwhile, the majority of Filipinos list “any online” (which also includes websites and applications) as their primary source of news at 85 per cent, followed by social media at 66 per cent. A smaller number list TV as their source at 46 per cent, and print at 13 per cent.
“The decline of TV and print has plateaued as Filipinos seek news on the worsening political polarisation. Social media, however, remains their preferred news source,” University of the Philippines associate professor Yvonne Chua said in the report.
The digital news report also specified that videos continue to grow in importance as a source of news across all markets, rising from 52 per cent in 2020 to 65 per cent in 2025 in social video, and from 67 per cent to 75 per cent in any video.
“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,” the study showed.
Meanwhile, overall trust in news has slightly increased to 38 per cent from the previous year’s 37 per cent.
However, Chua pointed out that trust in most individual media brands declined due to political disinformation.
“While our survey data show that overall trust in news improved after 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 amid intensified political disinformation, at least some of which is aimed at mainstream outlets for allegedly biased coverage,” Chua wrote.
Chua also pointed out that some outlets critical of those in power are “often actively distrusted by supporters of the politicians in question and subject to coordinated harassment,” she added.
Chua then noted that public trust is “not in itself a measure of the quality or trustworthiness of the content.”
Meanwhile, the annual report also showed that 48 per cent of Filipinos said they sometimes or often avoid the news.
Among the reasons why people avoid the news globally, 39 per cent said that news had negative effect on their mood; 31 per cent said the amount of news wore them out; 30 per cent said there is too much coverage of conflict or war; 29 per cent said there is too much coverage of politics; 20 per cent said because there is nothing they could do with the information.
Meanwhile, 18 per cent said it led to arguments they’d rather avoid; another 18 per cent said it did not feel relevant to their life; while 9 per cent said news was too hard to understand.
Among the nine per cent of respondents globally who said the news was too difficult to understand, 16 per cent of Filipino respondents under 35 and 11 per cent of those aged 35 and older reported having the same difficulty following or understanding the news.
The study was conducted from mid-January to the end of February 2025, polling 97,055 online respondents across 48 markets in six continents, including 2,014 adult Filipinos. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
