Talking Point: Can we trust the media?
While trust in national outlets has collapsed to just 35%, local journalism is experiencing a remarkable renaissance, with 80% of UK adults now trusting their local news sources. Understanding this divergence has never been more important.
Why it matters
We live in an age where creating and distributing content has never been easier. Anyone with a smartphone can become a ‘content creator’, publishing to millions without editorial oversight, fact-checking or accountability. This democratisation of publishing should be celebrated, but it comes with consequences.
The proliferation of content creators versus professional journalists has fundamentally changed the information landscape. Where traditional journalism operates within frameworks of verification, correction and consequence, much online content exists in a space where engagement matters more than accuracy. When a professional journalist gets something wrong, their reputation and livelihood are at stake. When a content creator spreads misinformation, they typically benefit from the controversy.
That’s one reason why it’s always valuable to seek out creators who work with agencies such as Muse. That way, you can be sure that what you are getting is a real professional who is likely to provide you with what you need.
This matters because the decisions we make – as business leaders, as voters, as community members – depend on the quality of information available to us. In an era where AI can generate convincing but entirely fabricated content, and where social media algorithms prioritise emotional engagement over factual accuracy, knowing which sources to trust isn’t just useful – it’s essential.
The details
According to Reuters’ Digital News Report 2025, overall trust in UK media sits at just 35%, down from 51% in 2015. That’s a collapse of 16 percentage points in a decade, leaving the UK ranked 32nd out of 48 countries surveyed.
Yet within this bleak picture, a countertrend has emerged. New research from the News Media Association reveals that trust in local media has jumped sharply, rising from 73% to 80% in just one year. Meanwhile, regional and local news brands now achieve 51% trust ratings in the Digital News Report – outperforming The Times (47%), The Telegraph (42%) and every tabloid in the country.
At the bottom of the trust rankings sit the tabloids: The Sun commands just 17% trust, with 62% actively distrusting it. The Daily Mirror sits at 22%, the Daily Mail at 24%. These aren’t marginal differences – they represent a profound crisis of credibility for significant parts of the national media.
Despite the recent controversies, the BBC remains the most trusted news source at 60% – but even this represents a significant decline from pre-Brexit levels. Only four brands are routinely trusted for fact-checking: the BBC, Sky, The Guardian and The Times. This narrow ecosystem for verification creates vulnerabilities when misinformation spreads.
The bigger picture
So why has trust in national media collapsed while local journalism maintains credibility?
Every national story, unless it starts in Westminster, starts locally. Every national issue is a local issue. Every national brand sells to local consumers. Local journalists live in the communities they cover. They shop in the same supermarkets, send their children to the same schools and face their sources in the street. This proximity creates an accountability that national media can rarely match.
But the journalism industry must confront its own failings. The race for digital advertising revenue has pushed many publishers toward a destructive model: clickbait headlines, sensationalised content and reader experiences dominated by intrusive advertising. As politics has become more polarised, the media has followed – not simply through bias, but through editorial choices that prioritise engagement over accuracy.
Social media platforms have exacerbated this problem. Their algorithms reward outrage and emotional reactions, prioritising content that keeps users scrolling rather than content that informs. When these platforms become the primary distribution channel for news, publishers face pressure to create content that performs within these algorithmic constraints, often at the expense of nuance, balance and accuracy.
The journalism industry needs to hold itself to a higher standard and take greater accountability for how people perceive it. The erosion of trust isn’t just about ‘fake news’ from outside journalism – it’s also about the choices established media organisations have made in pursuit of clicks and revenue.
This crisis of trust coincides with unprecedented technological disruption. Tech platforms are integrating AI technology at breakneck speed, increasing the prominence of factually incorrect and misleading information online. These AI systems can generate convincing content that looks like journalism but lacks the verification, sourcing and accountability that underpin trustworthy reporting.
Meanwhile, social media algorithms create echo chambers that reinforce existing beliefs rather than challenging them. Users are fed content that matches their previous behaviour, creating personalised information bubbles where contrary evidence rarely penetrates.
Interestingly, Ofcom’s latest report found a notable improvement in public perception of print newspapers, with ratings for trust, accuracy and impartiality increasing from 60% in 2018 to 70% in 2025. This suggests that as the information landscape becomes more chaotic, traditional journalistic standards could become more valuable.
How to identify trustworthy sources
For business leaders, distinguishing between trustworthy and untrustworthy journalism isn’t optional. Here’s what to look for:
- Transparency matters most. Trustworthy sources clearly identify their journalists, explain their methodology, cite their sources and maintain transparent correction policies. If an article doesn’t tell you where the information came from or who reported it, treat it with scepticism.
- Look for accountability. Regulated media brands have editorial processes, legal review and consequences for getting things wrong. Ask yourself: if this source published something false, what would happen? If the answer is “nothing”, you’re not reading journalism. For regional and local news, proximity creates powerful incentives for accuracy. Journalists who live in the communities they cover face immediate consequences for poor reporting.
- Distinguish news from opinion. Trustworthy outlets clearly label opinion pieces and separate editorial content from advertising. If you can’t tell where the journalism ends and the marketing begins, you’re probably reading content designed to sell rather than inform.
- Break out of the algorithm. Don’t rely on a single outlet or social media feeds for information. Algorithms create echo chambers that reinforce existing beliefs rather than challenge them. Actively seek out sources that challenge your assumptions and present different perspectives. The most dangerous information diet isn’t one that includes unreliable sources – it’s one that only includes sources that confirm what you already believe.
- Embrace the boring. Sensational headlines and emotional manipulation are red flags. Trustworthy journalism might be less exciting, but it’s often more reliable. If content seems designed primarily to make you angry or afraid, question its motives.
The bottom line
Can we trust the media? Some of it, absolutely. Local journalism continues to demonstrate that when journalists are accountable to the communities they serve, trust follows. Public service broadcasting maintains credibility through impartiality requirements and editorial independence. News organisations that invest in verification, correction and transparency remain reliable.
But other parts of the media landscape have abandoned the principles that make journalism trustworthy, pursuing engagement and revenue at the expense of accuracy and responsibility. The industry must confront these failings honestly if it hopes to rebuild broader public trust.
Ultimately, we mustn’t forget that journalism is an important part of civilised society. While some of it is currently broken, the answer isn’t to throw it out, but to fix it.
For readers, the challenge isn’t to trust or distrust ‘the media’ as a monolith – it’s to develop the critical skills necessary to distinguish between journalism that serves the public interest and content that serves only to manipulate, sell or mislead. In an age of AI-generated content, algorithmic echo chambers and unprecedented information chaos, that skill has never been more valuable.
Kindly written by Oliver Rouane-Williams who is the Founder and Editor of Ipswich.co.uk, an independent local media for Ipswich and the surrounding areas. He has spent 15 years growing some of the UK’s largest national and local media companies.
