Among U.S. Latinos, the internet now rivals television as a source for news
Foreign-born Latinos, who tend to be older than U.S.-born Latinos, continue to rely heavily on TV for news. In 2016, 85% of foreign-born Latinos said that on a typical weekday they got their news from TV, the group's most widely used news source. Meanwhile, two-thirds (67%) of foreign-born Latinos said they use the internet for news, a share that has increased sharply since 2006, when only 25% said so. (News consumption among U.S.-born Latinos generally reflects that of Latinos overall.)
Many Latinos speak English and Spanish, and this bilingualism is reflected in their news habits. In 2016, Latinos primarily consumed news in English, with 83% saying they get at least some of their news in this language on a typical weekday (29% only in English and 54% in both English and Spanish). At the same time, a comparable share (71%) said they get at least some of their news in Spanish (17% only in Spanish and 54% in both English and Spanish).
Hispanic Millennials use English-language news sources more than older generations, with 91% in 2016 saying they get at least some of their news in English, compared with 68% who said they consume at least some of their news in Spanish.
Foreign-born Latinos, by contrast, prefer Spanish-language news sources: 89% in 2016 said they get at least some of their news in Spanish, and 70% said they get at least some of it in English.
The landscape of news outlets has changed over the past decade as the news habits of Hispanics have shifted. Univision and Telemundo, the two largest Spanish-language television networks in the U.S., have had viewership declines in their most popular news programs. In addition, several news outlets that targeted Hispanics as a primary audience, often in English, have either closed or been folded into larger news organizations, including CNN Latino, NBC Latino, Fox News Latino and VOXXI.
Note: See here for full topline results and for methodology (PDF).
