“News fatigue” is becoming a global phenomenon.
Too much bad news makes you want to watch the news less and less? Under the bombardment of information, "news fatigue" is becoming a global phenomenon, and there are similar signs in the Asia-Pacific region. The latest statistics show that half of the respondents in India sometimes or often avoid the news, ranking first among the 11 Asia-Pacific countries; only 21% of the respondents in Taiwan ranked second from the bottom, only higher than Japan's 11%.
The bombardment of information is overwhelming, and more and more people are choosing to watch less news. Seasia Stats quoted the Reuters Institute's "2025 Digital News Report" as pointing out that about 40% of respondents worldwide said they sometimes or often avoid news. The proportion has reached the highest level ever recorded by the institute. "News fatigue" has also become an important challenge facing the media.
Looking at the Asia-Pacific region, people's attitudes towards news vary greatly across regions. Among the 11 countries and regions listed this time, India has the highest rate of news avoidance, reaching 50%, which is equivalent to 1 in every 2 respondents who sometimes or often do not want to contact the news.
Following closely behind are the Philippines with 48% and Thailand with 41%. Australia is 40%, Indonesia and Malaysia are both 39%; South Korea is down 31%, Singapore and Hong Kong are 27% and 26% respectively.
In Taiwan, only 21% of respondents said they sometimes or often avoid the news, ranking second from the bottom among the 11 Asia-Pacific countries and regions in this comparison, only higher than Japan's 11%. The Reuters Institute for Journalism also specifically pointed out that Taiwan and Japan are regions with relatively low levels of news avoidance in the "2025 Digital News Report".
Why do some people want to watch the news less and less? The report points out that people may be overwhelmed by the continuous influx of information, especially when the news focuses a lot on conflicts, political disputes, economic difficulties or other disturbing events.
Younger people are also more likely to find the news difficult to understand, lack relevance to their lives, or likely to spark hostile debates, and therefore choose to reduce their exposure to the news.
However, avoiding traditional news does not mean not receiving information at all. The report found that people’s channels for obtaining news are continuing to shift to social media, audio and video platforms and online creators. In Asian countries such as India, the Philippines and Thailand, more people express a preference to "watch" news online rather than read news.
Differences between countries highlight the diversity of news reading habits in the Asia-Pacific region, and these differences may reflect differences in media environments, culture, technology use, and people's relationship with news.
