Syracuse survey puts YouTube narrowly ahead of TV for political news
YouTube ranked first among individual sources in a new survey of U.S. adults, but its 0.4-point lead over television comes without a reported uncertainty estimate.
Syracuse University released a survey on October 9, 2026, that puts YouTube narrowly ahead of broadcast and cable television as a single source of political and election news among U.S. adults. The finding matters for news outlets and audiences tracking where political information is encountered, but the reported gap is only 0.4 percentage points, and the accessible account gives no uncertainty estimate for it.
In the inaugural Flash Report from Syracuse’s Center for the Creator Economy, 16.5% of respondents named YouTube, compared with 16.1% for broadcast and cable TV news and 15.7% for print and online news sites. Those figures rank the listed sources in this survey; they do not establish that YouTube has displaced television across all measures of news use.
How the Syracuse survey groups news sources
The findings came from a survey of 1,001 U.S. adults conducted through Prolific and described in the published account as demographically representative. The account does not give field dates, the full questionnaire, weighting details or a margin of error. Without those details, readers cannot tell whether the small difference between YouTube and television exceeds the survey’s uncertainty.
Grouping sources changes the picture. Social platforms collectively accounted for 60% in the Syracuse results, against 32% for traditional sources. Conversely, the combined share for TV and news sites was nearly twice YouTube’s individual share. A claim that YouTube leads therefore depends on comparing one platform with each listed category separately, rather than comparing all digital platforms with all traditional outlets.
The survey account also says 59% of respondents accessed general news on social media often or always, while 55% did so for political information. It describes reliance as highest among younger adults and among respondents identifying as Black or Republican, but provides no subgroup percentages in the accessible account. Those statements describe reported use, not the amount of political news people actually watched or read.
What respondents said about news creators
The report examined trust as well as where people find news. On political subjects, 61% said they trusted a well-known independent news creator as much as a well-known professional journalist or a major news organization. Another 67% said doing the reporting mattered more than formal journalism credentials, while 86% said public corrections would increase their trust in independent creators.
That openness did not erase distinctions between the roles. The published account says 79% saw a meaningful difference between an independent creator and a journalist. Asked about overall trust, 41% said they trusted professional journalists more, 35% disagreed and 25% were neutral. The results measure respondents’ stated views; they do not assess the accuracy of any creator’s or newsroom’s work.
The account associates heavier social media news use with greater perceived credibility for independent creators and reports differences by political affiliation. It does not show that using social media causes trust in creators. Detailed figures for those groups are also unavailable in the accessible account, limiting how precisely the differences can be described.
How earlier Pew surveys put the finding in context
Pew Research Center asked a different question in a 2024 election-news survey: which route U.S. adults most commonly used for political and election news. Television led at 35%, followed by news websites or apps at 21% and social media at 20%. Pew’s categories, timing and question differ from Syracuse’s platform ranking, so the figures cannot be joined into a trend showing a shift from TV to YouTube.
Pew found a sharp age divide in that 2024 survey. Social media was the most common route for political news for 46% of adults under 30, against 23% of those aged 30 to 49, 7% of those aged 50 to 64 and 3% of adults 65 and older. Television was the most common route for 63% of the oldest group, compared with 10% of adults under 30. Those figures help explain why a single national ranking cannot describe every age group’s habits.
A separate Pew fact sheet, based on an August 2025 survey, found that 53% of U.S. adults at least sometimes got news from social media. It also found 38% regularly got news on Facebook and 35% on YouTube. These are measures of general news and regular platform use, while Syracuse reported an often-or-always measure and a ranking for political and election news. The numbers offer context, not a direct check on Syracuse’s close YouTube–TV result.
The Syracuse account does not identify a timetable for another survey or provide an outside response to the findings. The unresolved question is how robust the 0.4-point ranking is once the report’s full methods and uncertainty estimates are available. For now, the supported conclusion is narrower: YouTube placed first among the individual sources listed in this survey, while television and news sites remained substantial routes to political news.
Sources and context
- YouTube overtakes TV as top source of political news, study findsPhys.org / Science X (report by Keith Kobland, Syracuse University)
- Where Americans turn for election newsPew Research Center
- Social Media and News Fact SheetPew Research Center
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.
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