Irish Public's Trust in News Falls to 42% as Reuters Report Reveals Deepening Avoidance Crisis
The Reuters Institute's 2026 Digital News Report for Ireland, published on 24 June, has revealed a sharp nine-percentage-point decline in overall trust in news, with public confidence in Irish media now standing at 42% — a figure that places Ireland below the international average and reflects a broader crisis of credibility that is reshaping the economics and editorial strategies of news organisations across the country.
Background
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford has published its annual Digital News Report since 2012, providing a comprehensive, internationally comparable assessment of how people consume news, what they trust, and how their relationship with journalism is changing. The Ireland-specific findings, which are based on a nationally representative survey of Irish adults, have become an important benchmark for the Irish media industry and for policymakers concerned with the health of the country's information ecosystem.
The decline in trust in news is not a uniquely Irish phenomenon — it is a global trend that has been documented across the Reuters Institute's research for several years. However, the scale of the decline in Ireland — nine percentage points in a single year — is notable and suggests that factors specific to the Irish media landscape are amplifying the broader trend. These may include the ongoing controversy around RTÉ's financial management, the proliferation of misinformation on social media platforms, and a growing sense among some sections of the public that mainstream media does not adequately represent their views or concerns.
The Irish media industry has been under significant commercial pressure for more than a decade, with the shift of advertising revenue from print and broadcast to digital platforms — primarily Google and Meta — fundamentally disrupting the business models that sustained quality journalism for generations. This commercial pressure has led to significant job losses in newsrooms, reduced investment in investigative journalism, and a contraction in the range of voices and perspectives available to Irish news consumers.
Key Developments
The 2026 report found that trust in news in Ireland now stands at 42%, down from 51% in the previous year's survey — a decline that is among the largest recorded in any country in the report's history. News avoidance is also on the rise, with 47% of respondents saying they actively avoid news at least sometimes, citing reasons including the negative emotional impact of news consumption, a sense that news is not relevant to their lives, and a belief that news is biased or inaccurate.
Despite the overall decline, trust in established news brands remains relatively stable. RTÉ and The Irish Times continue to be among the most trusted news sources in Ireland, suggesting that the decline in overall trust is driven more by distrust of news in general — and of social media and online sources in particular — than by specific concerns about the quality of established Irish journalism.
In response to the commercial pressures documented in the report, Irish news organisations are accelerating their shift towards reader-revenue models. The Business Post launched a digital-first subscription strategy in June 2026, joining The Irish Times and the Irish Examiner in prioritising direct reader relationships over advertising-dependent models. This shift has significant implications for the accessibility of quality journalism, raising questions about whether subscription-based models can sustain the kind of public-interest journalism that advertising-supported media has historically provided.
Why It Matters
The decline in trust in news is not merely a commercial problem for media organisations — it is a democratic problem for Irish society. A well-functioning democracy depends on an informed citizenry, and an informed citizenry depends on access to reliable, trustworthy journalism. When trust in news declines, the space is filled by misinformation, conspiracy theories, and partisan content that serves the interests of those who produce it rather than the public interest.
The rise of news avoidance is particularly concerning. People who actively avoid news are not simply uninformed — they are often actively misinformed, because the information vacuum created by news avoidance is filled by social media content that is algorithmically optimised for engagement rather than accuracy. The consequences of this dynamic are visible in the increasing polarisation of public debate and the difficulty of achieving consensus on complex policy questions.
For the Irish media industry, the report's findings represent both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to rebuild trust in a media environment that is structurally hostile to the kind of slow, careful, expensive journalism that trust is built on. The opportunity is to demonstrate, through the quality and relevance of their journalism, that established news organisations offer something that social media platforms cannot: reliable, accountable, professionally produced information.
Local Impact
The implications of the trust decline are felt differently across Ireland. In Dublin, where media consumption is highest and the range of available news sources is greatest, the shift towards digital and subscription-based models is most advanced. In rural areas, where local newspapers and regional radio stations have historically been the primary sources of community news, the commercial pressures on local media are particularly acute, with several regional titles having closed or reduced their operations in recent years.
The decline in local journalism has real consequences for communities. Local newspapers and radio stations provide coverage of planning decisions, council meetings, court proceedings, and community events that national media cannot and does not cover. When these outlets disappear or reduce their coverage, communities lose an important source of accountability journalism and a platform for local voices.
What's Next
The Reuters Institute report will be discussed at a series of industry events in the coming months, including the National Union of Journalists' annual conference and the Future of Media Commission's follow-up review. The government's media fund, which provides financial support to local and regional news organisations, is due for review in autumn 2026, and the report's findings are likely to inform that process. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is also expected to publish new guidelines on online news regulation in the second half of 2026.
