Flemish audiences have more ways than ever to keep up with the news, yet their engagement with it is declining. That is the conclusion of a survey of more than 2,000 Flemish respondents conducted by the imec-SMIT research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Imec-SMIT is the Belgian partner of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s annual Digital News Report. The study shows that news consumption has changed significantly over the past decade: traditional media are losing ground, while online news, social media, news influencers and, to a limited extent, AI chatbots are becoming increasingly important.
News is more accessible than ever before. Yet greater accessibility has not translated into higher levels of news consumption. The proportion of Flemish people who access news on a daily basis has fallen from 89 per cent in 2017 to 72 per cent today. At the same time, interest in news is declining. Ten years ago, 62 per cent of Flemish respondents described themselves as highly interested in news; today, that figure stands at just 36 per cent. Almost one in five now says they are not interested in news at all.
The decline is most pronounced among younger audiences. They are more likely to discover news through social media and are increasingly using so-called ‘newsfluencers’ as an additional source of information. These influencers are appreciated for their accessible and engaging style, while young people remain critical of their reliability. “We see that young people in Flanders are following news influencers more and more frequently,” says Professor Ike Picone of imec-SMIT-VUB.
Artificial intelligence is also gradually finding its way into news consumption. However, Flemish users rarely turn to AI chatbots as a primary source of news. Instead, they use tools such as ChatGPT mainly to summarise articles, find additional background information, or verify sources.
Notably, trust in established news brands remains relatively high despite declining engagement. Overall trust in news has fallen in recent years, but Flemish audiences continue to trust the news brands they personally use. News encountered via social media or AI chatbots enjoys considerably lower levels of trust. “Trust is not the same as satisfaction,” says Dr Pauljan Truyens, Senior Researcher at imec-SMIT-VUB and Coordinator of Mediapunt. “Younger audiences in particular are disengaging because the news too often fails to connect with their lives or address their concerns. You can have all the funding and regulation in the world, but winning them back will ultimately depend on the creativity of journalists themselves.”
According to Picone, the issue of trust highlights an important nuance in the debate about the future of journalism: “In the competition for people’s attention, news media are not among the obvious winners. Yet there is a silver lining: people still trust the news brands they know, even though they increasingly encounter news through platforms they trust far less.”
The researchers also identified a large group of Flemish citizens who hold neither strongly positive nor strongly negative views about the quality of news provision. The significance of this ambivalent middle group is also reflected in perceptions of the public broadcaster: 42 per cent believe it has neither a positive nor a negative impact on life in Flanders.
The Flemish figures fit into a broader Belgian context in which the media sector is facing growing pressure. In both Flanders and Wallonia, traditional news providers are struggling with declining print revenues, the withdrawal of government support for newspaper distribution, cuts to subsidies, and increasing media concentration. In French-speaking Belgium, the planned merger between media groups Rossel and IPM has become a symbol of this trend. If approved, the deal would bring almost all French-language daily newspapers under a single media group.
At the same time, the rapid rise of artificial intelligence is forcing news organisations to make new strategic choices. Research shows that 43 per cent of Flemish media users now use generative AI at least once a month, compared with 28 per cent a year ago. Among students, that figure rises to more than 80 per cent. AI is primarily used to find information quickly—precisely the area in which news organisations have traditionally played a central role.
Nevertheless, this technological revolution also presents opportunities. At the end of last year, De Standaard launched a French-language digital edition, using artificial intelligence to translate between fifteen and twenty-five articles each day for French-speaking readers. The initiative aims to bridge Belgium’s language divide and demonstrates how AI can serve not only as a challenge for journalism, but also as a means of reaching wider audiences.
According to imec-SMIT, the future of journalism will not depend solely on technology, platforms or regulation. “The challenge is not simply that news struggles to hold people’s attention,” says Picone. “Many news users also do not feel sufficiently addressed by the way news is presented. Younger audiences in particular are seeking information through alternative and more accessible channels.”
The researchers conclude that the future of journalism will depend to a large extent on the creativity with which news organisations succeed in reconnecting new generations with the news.