Younger Americans are flocking to digital media from across the political spectrum. 

This week marks CNN’s 45th anniversary, a milestone for the country’s first 24-hour news network. CNN helped usher in the era of cable news, changing how Americans consumed current events.  

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But today, the cable news business model is aging, literally. 

People under 50 just aren’t watching. Or reading the newspaper. Or listening to talk radio. 

According to Pew Research, 85% of Americans under 30 get their news mostly from digital sources like news websites, social media, or podcasts. Nearly three-quarters of people in the 30-49 age bracket said the same thing. 

This is one of those rare media phenomena that isn’t driven by partisanship. Republicans and Democrats alike prefer digital over traditional sources:

For all the focus on partisan divides, this may be one of the quiet trends pulling the two sides a little closer together. 

Younger Republicans and Democrats are not necessarily reading the same things, but they’re using the same types of platforms. That’s a departure from the days of Rush Limbaugh and the “Radio Right,” when conservatives flocked to talk radio while Democrats held fast to network TV. 

Could this be the signal of a new, less polarized era for the media? 

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