Consumers define what is news and what is a journalist

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 22/08/2025

What is news and what is a journalist? Surveys show that audiences feel overwhelmed by news content, especially online, while publishers worry that surveys show people avoid reading the news thinking they get too much of it and that the news often is too depressing. The digitalisation of media has changed definitions. It’s the audience and not journalists deciding what is news. The audience often prefers to get news via influencers and not journalists so the definition of the job as journalist has also become blurred.

A new survey by Pew Research Center says that as we navigate an often-overwhelming stream of news online – some of it coming from non-traditional news providers – what it means to be a journalist has become increasingly open to interpretation.

“Who Americans see as a “journalist” depends on both the individual news provider and the news consumer, similar to the variety of ways people define “news.”

Most say journalists are at least somewhat important to the well-being of society. At the same time, many are critical of journalists’ job performance and say they are declining in influence. 

And many views toward journalists in the US continue to be sharply divided by political party with Republicans taking a more sceptical view of the profession than Democrats.

“There is a lack of consensus – and perhaps some uncertainty – about whether someone who primarily compiles other people’s reporting or offers opinions on current events is a journalist.” Americans are also split over whether people who share news in “new media” spaces like newsletters, podcasts and social media are journalists.”

Most (79%) agree that someone who writes for a newspaper or news website is a journalist – higher than the share who say the same about someone who reports on TV (65%), radio (59%) or any other medium.

There is less consensus about whether people who work in newer media are journalists. Fewer than half say someone who hosts a news podcast (46%), writes their own newsletter about news (40%) or posts about news on social media (26%) is a journalist. In each of these cases, roughly a quarter say they aren’t sure whether these people are journalists.

“Young adults are far more likely than older adults to view “new media” news providers as journalists – but are also less likely than their elders to care whether the news they get comes from people they think are journalists.”

Another survey by Pew Research shows that about one-in-five say that they regularly get news from influencers on social media. A clear majority of these influencers are men and most of them have no background with a news organisation. 

“News influencers” are defined as individuals who regularly post about current events and civic issues on social media and have at least 100,000 followers on any of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) or YouTube. They can be journalists who are or were affiliated with a news organisation or independent content creators, but they must be people and not organisations.

21% say they regularly get news from news influencers on social media and this is especially common among younger adults: 37% of those ages 18 to 29 say they regularly get news from influencers.

65% say news influencers have helped them better understand current events and civic issues. 

“There is not a one-size-fits-all answer to what “news” is – news means something different to everyone”, according to data  from Pew Research. 

Depressing news like the wars in Ukraine and Gaza have increased news avoidance with 39% in a Reuters Institute survey saying they often or sometimes avoid the news – up from 29% in 2017. 

Even as online platforms have brought great convenience for consumers – and advertisers have flocked to them – they have also disrupted traditional publishing business models in very profound ways, the institute says in a survey based on more than 95,000 people in 47 countries.  

“Our data suggest we are now at the beginning of a technology shift which is bringing a new wave of innovation to the platform environment, presenting challenges for incumbent technology companies, the news industry, and for society”, the institute’s report says.

The Pew Research survey on what is news says that some participants noted that their negative feelings about the news are due to common topics of coverage, such as politics, crime and war.

“Others indicated that their negative feelings originate from feeling overwhelmed by either the quantity or content of news, particularly online. “ 

About three-quarters (77%) in the survey say they follow the news at least some of the time, and 44% say they intentionally seek out news extremely often or often. 

• Defining news has become a personal, and personalised, experience. People decide what news means to them and which sources they turn to based on a variety of factors, including their own identities and interests.

• Most people agree that information must be factual, up to date and important to society to be considered news. Personal importance or relevance also came up often, both in participants’ own words and in their actual behaviours.
• “Hard news” stories about politics and war continue to be what people most clearly think of as news. U.S. adults are most likely to say election updates (66%) and information about the war in Gaza (62%) are “definitely news.”
• There are also consistent views on what news is not. People make clear distinctions between news versus entertainment and news versus opinion.
• At the same time, views of news as not being “biased” or “opinionated” can conflict with people’s actual behaviours and preferences. 55% believe it’s at least somewhat important that their news sources share their political views.