Exploring news consumption patterns and preferences of Generation Z: A field Study

Toulan, Randa Saleh; Saleh, Hanaa Farouk

doi:10.21608/ejsc.2025.413861

Exploring news consumption patterns and preferences of Generation Z: A field Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Assistant lecturer at the college of Language and Communication, Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Maritime Transport.

² Professor at Journalism department, Faculty of Mass Communication- Cairo University,College Vice-Dean for Education and Student Affairs

10.21608/ejsc.2025.413861

Abstract

This research aims mainly at addressing news consumption patterns and preferences of Gen Z, through identifying their preferred platforms, types of content, and the level of trust in various sources, in addition to evaluating their digital literacy and the way they deal with technology. By using a quantitative data tool, represented in survey, the researcher examined to what extent different members of Gen Z adapt with technology (access, usage, digital literacy skills), and their attitude toward digital news.
The results showed that the highly mentioned drawback of technology among respondents is "increased screen time, leading to health issues," with 76.9% of the total sample. Besides, a significant percentage of respondents (38.7%) reported that they consume news through digital sources 1-2 days per week. Respondents who consume news from digital sources (5 days or more) represents 31.2% of the total sample. The researcher also revealed that social media platforms are the most popular sources of news, making up 70.4% across all respondents. Online news sources or apps are also another dominant news source for all respondents with a total percentage of 54.3%, reflecting a growing reliance on digital platforms. As for the level of trust, news apps are considered the most trusted news source among respondents. Finally, the majority of respondent (79.6%) reported “scrolling through social media feeds” to be their preferred way of finding news content, and this is consistent with the previous finding which indicates that social media is the primary source of news for this generation.

Keywords