News trust sinks globally to 10-year low, but Portugal remains among the strongest
The Digital News Report 2026 reveals global trust in news at just 37%, the lowest since 2015, while Portugal bucks the trend at 51% but faces rising news avoidance and misinformation fears.
Global trust sinks to historic low
The Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026, based on 97,520 interviews across 48 markets, found that only 37% of people globally trust most news most of the time, the lowest since the survey began in 2015. The United States recorded one of the sharpest declines, with just 25% trusting the news, down five points in a single year and falling to 15% among right-leaning citizens. Major US networks like CBS News, Fox News, and CNN all lost ground. For the first time, social media and video platforms overtook news websites and television as the most common source of news across all age groups, though older audiences still prefer traditional formats.
Portugal stands out but confidence erodes
Portugal remains among the most trusting countries, with 51% expressing confidence in news, a level comparable to the Nordic countries. However, that figure is down 15 percentage points from 66% in 2015, and trust is uneven: older, more educated, and wealthier citizens are more likely to trust, while young people lag significantly.
News avoidance has doubled since 2017, now affecting 37% of Portuguese, with women and young adults the most likely to disengage.Portugal is indeed among the countries where trust in journalism is highest, but there is a very worrying trend, which is the issue of news avoidance.
Misinformation anxiety surges
Concern about what is real and false online jumped to 76% in Portugal, up from 71% last year and well above the global average of 62%. This places Portugal alongside Nigeria, Kenya, Australia, and the United States among the most alarmed markets.
Among those who still trust professional journalism, 85% say they are worried about disinformation.We have some results here that suggest that the Portuguese are increasingly distinguishing between credible journalistic information and misleading content circulating in digital environments, and I think this is even good news.
- General news
- 51 %
- Search engines
- 40 %
- AI chatbots
- 24 %
- Social media
- 21 %
Brand trust hierarchy shifts
Within Portugal's news market, public broadcaster RTP leads with 79% trust, followed by Jornal de Notícias (78%) and SIC (77%). The biggest gainer over time is tabloid Correio da Manhã, whose trust rating rose 18.3 points since 2018, reaching a level that, while still mid-table, shows the strongest upward trajectory.
Meanwhile, some established brands like Expresso and Público saw trust slip by a couple of points over the same period.The fact that all have trust majorities indicates that the public's relationship with the news system is more favorable when moving from the abstract plane of 'news in general' to the more concrete plane of recognized brands.
AI and new consumption patterns
Artificial intelligence is playing a growing role: 10% of global news consumers now use chatbots weekly, a figure that rises to 16% among those under 35. In Portugal, trust in news obtained via AI stands at only 24%, trailing search engines (40%) and general news (51%), though it edges ahead of social media (21%). Only 8% of Portuguese have paid for online news in the past year, highlighting the funding challenges for local media.
- Portugal 2025
- 71 %
- Portugal 2026
- 76 %
- Global 2025
- 58 %
- Global 2026
- 62 %
