Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

The news media is one of the most important channels for climate change communication. Journalists choose what climate stories to report and how to cover them, which in turn affects what different audiences hear and learn about climate change. Meanwhile, individuals follow different news sources sometimes related to their political affiliations. These different audiences can in turn affect what climate stories news organizations choose to cover, and how.

Past research on journalistic coverage of climate change has focused largely on mainstream media, particularly print and TV sources, but in recent years social media has grown as a major news source for Americans while newspaper circulation and traditional TV viewership have declined. Social media news sources, however, have much less regulatory or fact-checking oversight than traditional mainstream media, and recently many social media sites have reduced their voluntary fact-checking practices. In fact, many of the most popular online shows spread climate misinformation.

This Climate Note uses data from our Climate Change in the American Mind project to understand Americans’ most important sources of news as of May 2025, and to assess how they have changed since March 2021. All participants were asked “Which one of the following is your most important source of news, if any?” and directed to select one option from a list of 11. Here, we summarize overall results from May 2025 (n = 1,040) and compare them to results from March 2021 (n = 1,037).

Changes in Americans’ Top Sources of News

In May 2025, Americans were most likely to say that their most important source of news is social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, YouTube), with 19% selecting this option, an increase of 7 percentage points from March 2021. In 2025, 18% of Americans said that their most important source of news was local TV news, a decrease of 4 points from 2021. The next most important sources of news were news websites and apps (16%), national cable TV news (11%), and national network TV news (10%). These percentages did not differ significantly from 2021.

Top Sources of News For Global Warmings’ Six Americas, 2021 to 2025

We also investigated the top media sources of Global Warming’s Six AmericasDetailed results for the Disengaged are not shown separately due to small sample size (n = 60 in May 2025 and n = 44 in March 2021), but are included in the Data Tables for Accessibility. – our framework for understanding the spectrum of Americans’ responses to global warming.

In 2025, the Alarmed said that news websites or apps (23%) are their most important source of news, followed by social media (14%), local TV news (13%), and national radio news (13%).

Of the Six Americas, the Concerned shifted the most in their top sources of news. From 2021 to 2025, the percentage of the Concerned who say their most important source of news is social media increased by 9 percentage points (11% to 21%), while the percentage who say local TV news is their most important source of news declined by 10 points (from 26% in 2021 to 16% in 2025). Additionally, the percentage who say that news websites or apps are their most important source of news increased by 6 points (12% to 18%).

In 2025, the Cautious said that local TV news is their most important source of news (24%), followed by social media (17%) and news websites or apps (13%).

In 2025, the Doubtful said that their most important source of news is social media (22%), followed by local TV news (17%) and national cable TV news (15%). In 2021, they said that their most important source of news was local TV news (17%), followed by social media (14%) and news websites or apps (13%). However, due to the size of the margin of error for this group, the changes in social media use are not statistically significant.

In 2025, the Dismissive said that their most important source of news is social media (23%), followed by local TV news (18%), and national cable TV news (15%). In 2021, they said that their most important source of news was national cable TV news (20%), followed by local TV news (16%), social media (14%), and news websites and apps (14%). Due to the size of the margin of error for this group, the changes in social media use are not considered statistically significant.

Key Takeaways

Our analysis shows that since 2021, more Americans are shifting their news consumption away from TV and toward online sources, especially social media. While traditional news sources have been facing declining audiences for decades, this shift toward social media in particular as a news source appears to have accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic. This poses important challenges because social media platforms face significantly less regulation and legal accountability than traditional news sources, which makes them more vulnerable to misinformation. Additionally, social media companies are taking less responsibility to manage misinformation, even as new technologies such as generative AI make misinformation easier to produce.

Notably, the largest shifts toward online news consumption and away from mainstream news occurred among the Concerned and the Alarmed. This represents an important challenge because the tactics of climate misinformation online are shifting from outright denial that climate change is happening (a belief commonly held only by the Dismissive) to denying that climate climate solutions are effective – topics that the Alarmed and Concerned are most interested in learning about. These misinformation efforts are well-funded, but there are ways to combat misinformation online, such as by “pre-bunking,” i.e. providing correct information in advance. Thus it is critically important that climate communicators ensure that evidence-based climate information is widely available online.

Finally, we note that while social media has increased as a top media source, many Americans still say that local TV news is their top source of news, and all groups except the Concerned have changed little in their rates of watching local TV news from 2021 to 2025.Notably, this study was conducted before Congress voted to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which has severely reduced budgets for many local news stations in the U.S. This suggests that local news still plays a vital role in climate change communication. Additionally, our survey question did not distinguish between social media as a national or local news source. While social media also plays an important role in disseminating national news, it has also become an increasingly important source for local news, which is one of the key channels for connecting the dots between local weather events and climate change. Thus while social media presents many information challenges, it is also a growing opportunity for starting conversations about climate change at the local level.

Methods

The results of this analysis are based on data from the May 2025 wave (n = 1,040) and the March 2021 wave (n = 1,037) of the twice-yearly Climate Change in the American Mind survey – a nationally representative survey of U.S. public opinion on climate change conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. Data were collected in May 1-12, 2025, and in March 18-29, 2021, using the Ipsos KnowledgePanel®, a representative online panel of U.S. adults ages 18 and older. Questionnaires were self-administered online in a web-based environment.

The audience segmentation analysis used the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY) tool. Data for each survey wave were weighted to align with demographic parameters in the United States. Group differences were tested for statistical significance using the weighted proportions and unweighted sample sizes of each group. The average margin of error is +/- 3.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence interval for the subset of registered voters who participated in the survey in May 2025 (n = 1,040) and +/- 3.0 percentage points for the March 2021 survey (n = 1,037). Weighted sample proportions and average margins of error at the 95% confidence interval for the subgroups are:

• May 2025
  • Alarmed +/- 5.9 percentage points (n = 273, 26% of weighted sample)
  • Concerned +/- 5.9 percentage points (n = 276, 27% of weighted sample)
  • Cautious +/- 7.1 percentage points (n = 190, 19% of weighted sample)
  • Disengaged +/- 12.7 percentage points (n = 60, 7% of weighted sample)
  • Doubtful +/- 8.8 percentage points (n = 125, 11% of weighted sample)
  • Dismissive +/- 9.1 percentage points (n = 116, 11% of weighted sample)
• March 2021
  • Alarmed +/- 6.2 percentage points (n = 247, 24% of weighted sample)
  • Concerned +/- 5.5 percentage points (n = 315, 31% of weighted sample)
  • Cautious +/- 7.4 percentage points (n = 176, 17% of weighted sample)
  • Disengaged +/- 14.8 percentage points (n = 44, 5% of weighted sample)
  • Doubtful +/- 8.7 percentage points (n = 126, 11% of weighted sample)
  • Dismissive +/- 8.7 percentage points (n = 126, 11% of weighted sample)

View Data Tables for accessibility