Legacy media is having its Marie Antoinette moment.

According to a new global study from the Reuters Institute, social media has officially overtaken television as the top news source in the U.S. That’s right – 54% of Americans now get their news from the algorithm, not Anderson Cooper. And the media industrial complex is acting surprised, as if they did sow the seeds for this collapse with their own hands.

But wait, it gets better: these same media outlets – who’ve spent years lamenting the dangers of social media – are now sharing the news of their own obsolescence… on social media. If irony had a PR firm, this would be its magnum opus.

What does it say when more people get their political analysis from Joe Rogan than Meet the Press? Or when TikTok creators with ring lights are doing more to inform Gen Z than the entire op-ed page of the Washington Post?

Well, it says legacy journalism lost the plot.

It says a generation priced out by paywalls, bombarded by auto-play ads, and ignored by elite punditry decided to go somewhere else, somewhere less condescending, more relatable, and, let’s be honest, more entertaining.

It’s not a mystery what happened. The media didn’t just lock the doors – they burned the welcome mat. As newsrooms slashed staff and hoarded content behind paywalls, they left a vacuum that social media was all too happy to fill.

Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok became the new front pages, not because they’re perfect, but because they’re accessible. Want to read about the economy? That’ll be $12.99/month. Want to hear a 20-year-old in a beanie explain it while dancing to Doja Cat? Free.

Now we’re deep into the era of news by personality, not institution. Podcasters, YouTubers, and TikTokers have emerged as trusted figures for millions, particularly young people and communities long underserved by legacy media. It’s infotainment, sure. But it’s also what’s working.

There’s concern (rightly) about accuracy. The study found 73% of Americans are worried they can’t tell real from fake online – and frankly, they’re not wrong. But instead of figuring out how to rebuild trust, major outlets are busy writing think pieces about how TikTok is ruining democracy, while optimizing their SEO for it.

Adding insult to injury, AI chatbots are now in the mix, with younger folks already turning to ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini for their daily headlines. No paywall, no pop-ups, just answers. It’s not ideal, but it’s efficient. For newsrooms, that’s another existential threat. For readers? It’s a convenience that doesn’t ask them to “subscribe now or lose access.”

The Guardian itself posted about this on Instagram, because now, to stay visible, even they have to play the game. They’re stuck in a loop: blaming social media for destroying journalism, while relying on it to survive. It’s like chain-smoking while lecturing about lung health.

But the Reuters report also flags something that should terrify anyone who still believes in democracy: populist leaders like Donald Trump and Javier Milei are bypassing traditional media entirely, opting to partner with so-called “newsfluencers” who echo, amplify, and often legitimize their rhetoric.

Why sit down with 60 Minutes when you can go on a podcast with no follow-up questions and an audience that already loves you? Why face scrutiny when a TikTok influencer with 2 million followers will nod through your talking points and call it “just asking questions”? This is how authoritarianism gets dressed up in hoodies and hashtags. No editor. No fact-checker. No historical context. Just vibes.

And those vibes are being curated by people who the algorithm rewards for being provocative, polarizing, and emotionally manipulative. That’s how January 6th happened.

It’s how Trump won again.

It’s how election denial, climate skepticism, anti-vax content, and xenophobic rhetoric have all gone mainstream.

And the irony? While legacy outlets wag their fingers, they’re not exactly helping. You can’t complain about losing trust from communities you ignored for decades. You can’t call for media literacy now when you spent years running horse-race election coverage, false equivalence headlines, and both-sides bullshit that treated fascism as just another political opinion.

The public didn’t “turn away” from legacy media. Legacy media pushed them out with elitism, gatekeeping, and business models that treated readers like customers, not citizens.

Now, when disinformation spreads like wildfire and the news is reduced to algorithmic infotainment, the institutions that were supposed to safeguard democracy are looking around in shock. But they helped build this bonfire — and now they’re wondering why it’s so hot.

This is bigger than platforms. It’s about power. Who controls the narrative? Who defines the truth? And who benefits when confusion reigns? Because the answer to disinformation isn’t just “more facts.” It’s trust. And until our media – all of it – does the hard work of earning that trust, we’ll stay stuck in this endless loop of confusion, crisis, and chaos.

Welcome to the information war.

We’re losing.