News Nation explores the role of journalism in Australia today

Recent years have been shaped by economic volatility, social polarisation, geopolitical tension and rapid AI-driven transformation. Even in Australia, these global forces are reshaping daily life. In an era of information overload driven by social platforms, Australians are navigating an endless stream of content where fact and misinformation often sit side by side, making it harder than ever to know what to trust.

ThinkNewsBrands’ inaugural News Nation report reveals Australians – particularly Gen Z – are becoming more discerning about how they stay informed and are turning to news media.

The News Nation: Why journalism has never mattered more report, draws on eight studies by ThinkNewsBrands, examining the role of modern journalism and the value it holds for advertisers, supplemented by further studies from Australia, the UK and the US.

“The research shows Australians’ appetite for news remains strong; what’s shifting is how and why they access it,” ThinkNewsBrands CEO, Vanessa Lyons, said. 

News Nation key findings include:

• 78 per cent of Australians see national news publishers as trustworthy compared to 36 per cent who think the same of content creators.
  
• Almost 2 in 5 Australians say they turn to news media to fact check information they see on social platforms.
  
• More than half of Gen Z regularly follow five or more news sources to rely on.
  
• 85 per cent of Australians report feelings of greater confidence in a brand when they encounter it within a journalistic environment.