More Swiss people are avoiding news, with 36% occasionally tuning out, up three percentage points from last year.

Swiss news avoidance is on the rise, with 36% of people not consuming news at least some of the time. This marks a three percentage point increase from last year and a ten percentage point increase compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

These figures were compiled by the Research Center for the Public Sphere and Society at the University of Zurich (Fög) and reported in the Reuters Digital News Report.

Individuals with lower education levels are more likely to avoid news compared to those with medium or higher education. Additionally, news avoidance is higher among women (39%) than men (33%).

Age also plays a role: about a third of those under 25 and over 55 often or occasionally avoid news, with the highest avoidance in the intermediate age group. An overwhelming amount of information is cited as a primary reason for this trend.

Interest in news has declined over the long term. In 2024, 48% of respondents expressed strong interest in news, two percentage points higher than in 2023 but eleven percentage points lower than in 2016.

The Reuters Digital News Report, conducted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, surveyed over 2000 people in Switzerland to assess various aspects of media use.

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