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Africa: How Africans Get Their News Is Changing – How Much They Get Might Not Be

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Africa: How Africans Get Their News Is Changing – How Much They Get Might Not Be


Most citizens want news media that is free and holds government accountable.

Key findings

  • Radio remains the most common source of news in Africa: Across 38 countries surveyed in 2024/2025, six in 10 citizens (59%) say they obtain news via radio “every day” or “a few times a week,” compared to about half who do so via television (53%) and social media (50%) and fewer who turn regularly to other Internet sources (38%) and newspapers (13%).
  • Radio also continues to be the most accessible news source on the continent, with greater access than other media among women, rural residents, poorer respondents, and less-educated adults.
  • However, radio’s dominance is slowly declining: Across 28 countries surveyed consistently since 2014, the share who say they tune in at least a few times a week is down by 10 percentage points compared to a decade ago.
  • Growth in frequent digital news media use has slowed after rapid increases at the end of the 2010s.
  • Despite these changes, the share of Africans who report regular consumption of news via at least one mass media channel has not changed significantly over the past decade, suggesting that technological advances have not expanded the news audience.
  • Active engagement with media is limited: 6% of respondents say they contacted the media during the past year, and an equal share say they posted about politics or community affairs on social media.
  • Most Africans (72%) support media playing a role in holding governments accountable, including majorities in all surveyed countries.
  • Assessments of whether the media is free are mixed: 53% of respondents say the media in their country is largely free, but 43% see it as subject to censorship or government interference.
  • Perceptions of media freedom vary widely across Africa, from highs of 81% in Tanzania and 77% in Liberia and to just 28% in Comoros and 16% in Congo Brazzaville.
  • Nearly two-thirds (65%) of citizens support media freedom, including majorities in all surveyed countries except Tanzania (49%) and Mali (27%).
  • Those who see the media in their country as free are somewhat less likely than those who do not to support media freedom (63% vs. 69%).


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The media landscape continues to change in Africa, as it does in the rest of the world. The rise of digital technologies has transformed how many people obtain information, offering easy and speedy access to those with smartphones and computers (Yu, Bekerian, & Osback, 2024). In response, traditional media have adapted by expanding their presence on digital platforms: Most newspapers, radio stations, and television channels now operate websites or maintain social media accounts through which they distribute their content (Al-Quran, 2022).