Trust in the news falls
Overall trust in the news in Ireland “has fallen sharply”, but remains higher than in the UK, US, and Europe, while trust in Irish news brands has remained steady, a new report from Coimisiún na Meán has found.
The Digital News Report Ireland 2026, published in June 2026 and based on the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026, finds that 42 per cent of survey respondents said they trust the news. This compares with 31 per cent in the UK, 26 per cent in the US, and the European average of 36 per cent.
However, trust in the news in Ireland in 2026 has fallen from 51 per cent in 2025. Ireland recorded the second largest drop in trust in the news across 48 markets, after the Philippines.
RTÉ News remains among the most trusted outlets in the State, the report finds. Trust in RTÉ News and local or regional radio both stand at 71 per cent, while local and regional newspapers and The Irish Times are at 69 per cent.
Trust is lower among younger people than it is among older groups. The report finds that 33 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 trust news most of the time compared to 52 per cent of those aged 65 and over.
The report finds that 42 per cent of Irish respondents view public service media positively compared with 39 per cent in the US and 30 per cent in the UK. It finds that public service media is perceived positively by those aged under 35 and those aged over 65. Around half of those aged under 35 attribute a positive impact to public service media.
Those aged between 35 and 44 are the most uncertain about the value of public service media. The report finds that 39 per cent have a neutral perception of its value while 36 per cent view it positively.
Use of RTÉ TV as a weekly source of news has declined by 14 per cent since 2015 while the use of RTÉ News Online has increased by 6 per cent in this time. The most cited reasons for those who view public service media positively include universal access (61 per cent), trustworthy news (51 per cent), and high-quality journalism (47 per cent).
The report identifies news discovery as an “increasingly urgent issue”, finding that social media referrals to news publishers continue to decline. It also finds that Google’s rollout of AI-powered search “adds further uncertainty to how audiences find journalism online”.
Algorithmic and incidental discovery are identified as “central and contested” features of the Irish news landscape. Television and online news sources, excluding social media, are the most popular main sources of news with 31 per cent accessing news through these mediums.
AI chatbots are also emerging as a news source. The report says 7 per cent of respondents use it as such, with this number rising to 14 per cent for those aged 18 to 24. Coimisiún na Meán says this is “a trend that is only likely to grow”.
When considering news sources, the report finds that 51 per cent trust the news they consume. It finds that 42 per cent trust “most news”, 31 per cent trust news from search engines, 16 per cent trust news from social media, and 14 per cent trust news from AI chatbots. The report states that concerns about what is real and fake in Ireland rose to 71 per cent in 2026 from 68 per cent in 2025.
The report states that Ireland’s influencer and creator economy is growing. However, it says 14 per cent of respondents who consumed news from news creators over the previous week rely on them entirely for their news needs. The report finds that, compared to news brands, content from news creators is considered 23 per cent less impartial, 20 per cent less trustworthy, 10 per cent less knowledgeable, and 9 per cent less authentic.
Avoidance is also at a record high with 47 per cent saying they avoid the news. The number of people who said they never avoid the news also decreased from 28 per cent in 2025 to 22 per cent in 2026.
Overall news engagement has also decreased, with the report stating that this suggests audiences “may be reaching a saturation point”. Despite this, Coimisiún na Meán finds that most news outlets are holding their audiences and are growing them in some cases.
News brands which saw an increase in access by survey participants include Dublin Live, The Irish Times, The Journal, and BBC News. The report also finds that news subscriptions hit 22 per cent, the same as the high reached in 2024. It adds that “no market worldwide has seen a higher increase in subscriptions than 2 percentage points this year”.
Smartphone use is the most common route to news consumption in Ireland, with 76 per cent of survey respondents saying they had used smartphones to access news in the past week.
People using social media as their main method to discover news has increased by 3 per cent since 2025. Algorithmic news recommendations are the main means of discovering news for 70 per cent of those aged under 35. They access news through social media feeds, news aggregators, and keyword searches.
In 2026, Facebook overtook news websites or apps as the leading source for news videos, rising by 5 per cent from 2025 to reach 27 per cent. Video viewing on news websites or apps has declined to 23 per cent, a 5 per cent decrease.
In the report’s foreword, Rónán Ó Domhnaill, media development commissioner at Coimisiún na Meán, says: “This year’s findings underline the need for ongoing attention to the sustainability of the sector, media literacy, and the evolving role of platforms and technologies in shaping the news media environment.”
