Data · Digital News Report 2026

We trust the news less than ever. And we get it where we trust it least.

Every year, the Reuters Institute asks people around the world how they get their news. This year, trust in the news is the lowest since they began measuring it. And for the first time, people use social media and video to get news more than television or news websites.

15th edition · 48 markets · nearly 100,000 interviews

The number

37%

Only 37% of people trust the news. That is 37 people out of every 100. For three years it was 40%. It is the lowest number since 2015, the year measuring began.

Trust fell in 29 of the 48 countries in the study. In 19 of them it dropped at least 5 points in a single year. The problem is bigger than the media. People also distrust governments and institutions, there is political instability, and elections that split people apart.

The gap

Social media and video

Use them each week 54%

Trust what they see there 22%

We use the place we trust least more than ever. It sounds strange, and yet that is what we do.

Trust changes depending on where you see the news. The closer you get to the platforms, the less people trust it.

News in general37%

Search engines32%

Social media22%

AI answers20%

The inversion

For the first time, platforms come first

How the world gets news. Each bar shows how many people use that source each week.

Social & video54%no. 1

Television52%−13 pp*

Sites & apps51%−12 pp*

Radio21%

Print16%

* Television and news websites lost 13 and 12 points as a source since 2020.

Note

Bolivia is not in the study. The Reuters Institute covers six Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. No figure in this report represents Bolivia.

Then / Now

Five numbers that changed in ten years

Tap "Then" or "Now" to compare. The grey line marks the other moment.

Trust in news40% for three years 37%−3 pp

People who avoid the news2017 → 2026 42%+13 pp

People who use AI for news2025 → 2026 10%+3 pp

Worry about fake newsworldwide · up 4 points in a year 62%+4 pp

Trust in Colombia2021 → 2026 · lowest in the region 25%−15 pp

What remains

This is not the end. People still trust the media they know. When something important happens, they come back to it. And they still want fair, balanced news, even if they are not happy with what they get today.

Platforms do not end journalism. They move it. Now journalism competes in the feed, in videos, and in what a chatbot says. The place has changed. Earning trust is the work.

Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026. 16 June 2026. Nearly 100,000 interviews across 48 markets.
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2026