Czechs’ reliance on social media as news source dropping
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) recently published the results of a survey indicating what news sources people rely on around the world. While social media has become the primary source of news for the largest share of Americans, the trend in the Czech Republic is moving in the opposite direction, with news consumption via social media and online platforms on the decline.
In the United States, 34 percent of people now cite social media as their main source of news, which is significantly more than in European countries. In the UK, the figure is 20 percent; in France, 19 percent; and in Denmark, just 12 percent. According to RISJ, American media habits are increasingly mirroring those seen in parts of Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
In the Czech Republic, reliance on social media for news appears to be weakening. This year, 44 percent of Czech respondents reported getting their news from social networks, down from 45 percent last year. In 2018, that number peaked at 56 percent—the highest ever recorded by RISJ.
Overall, all major news mediums have been losing ground over time. For example, the share of Czechs who get their news from television has dropped from 81 percent in 2018 to 60 percent in 2025. Print media has seen a sharper decline—from 28 percent to just 14 percent in the same period. Radio was not included in the survey.
Trust in the media among Czechs has risen slightly, up two percentage points year-on-year to 33 percent. Public broadcasters Czech Television and Czech Radio led the trust rankings, with 59 percent of respondents expressing confidence in both. CNN Prima News followed closely with 57 percent.
At the other end of the spectrum, the tabloid newspaper Blesk garnered the highest level of mistrust, with 56 percent of respondents expressing skepticism. The Czech News Agency was not included in the media trust rankings.
RISJ conducted its survey across 48 countries. In the Czech Republic, data was collected from 2,000 respondents via an online questionnaire – a method that may underrepresent individuals with limited or no internet access, typically older or economically disadvantaged groups. However, RISJ notes this distortion is minimal in countries where at least 95 percent of the population uses the internet. In the Czech Republic, that figure stands at 86 percent, compared to 93 percent in the United States.
