Trust in legacy mainstream news among New Zealanders has allegedly lifted in 2026, but remains well below pre-pandemic levels as more people actively turn away from coverage, according to a new report from AUT’s Journalism, Media and Democracy research centre.
The study found 37% of respondents now trust “most news most of the time,” up from 32% in 2025, while trust in the news people personally consume rose to 50%. Despite this improvement, the figure remains far below the 53% recorded in 2020, highlighting a longer-term decline in confidence in the legacy mainstream media .
At the same time, news avoidance has climbed sharply, with 78% of New Zealanders saying they avoid the news at least occasionally, up from 73% the previous year. The report attributes this to emotional fatigue, with over half of respondents saying news negatively affects their mood, alongside frustration with heavy coverage of conflict and politics . While interest in news remains high overall, the growing tendency to disengage signals a widening gap between consumption and trust.
The report also highlights changing patterns in how people access information. Online news sites and apps are now the primary source for 38% of New Zealanders, ahead of television (20%) and social media (19%). However, social platforms continue to gain ground, with trust in news found via social media rising from 13% to 17% in the past year.
Concerns about artificial intelligence in journalism remain significant. Around 60% of respondents said they are uncomfortable with news largely produced by AI, even with human oversight, while only 11% expressed comfort with such content. The report notes that increasing use of AI tools in newsrooms, combined with limited transparency about their use, could further influence public trust .
Among individual outlets, state-funded media RNZ was ranked “the most trusted news brand”, followed by the Otago Daily Times and TVNZ. Trust levels improved across all major legacy media brands in 2026, though concerns persist around perceived bias, opinion-driven reporting, and media ownership influence.
“Journalism, Media and Democracy”… Sounds like another bs lefty NGO masquerading as balance and impartiality.
100% what it is. Just another bunch of lefties saying that other lefties are popular and everyone loves them again. Fake circular credibility is all they ever do. Academia is rife with it, so is the media. The medical industry too.
They genuinely think none of us remember 2020 anymore.
Allegedly!
Report claims that politicians are honest and the church parliament is not a crime syndicate.
Fake report on the fake news
Who were the respondents to the survey? Stats sound way off!
Can we trust the source of such research when its from a government funded institution?
Was this taken after the fear mongering for the recent storm…. It was all click bait.
msm… Lower case. Not even worth capital letters. ‘Legacy’ = never.
Mainstream media used to mean “what everyone’s watching.”
Now it means:
“I saw it on TikTok… but only after it blew up on Reddit… which got it from a guy reposting a clip from YouTube… of a podcast nobody’s heard of… that’s somehow the biggest show in the world.”
At this point, “mainstream” just means:
“I found it the same confusing way everyone else did.”
Hopefully the owners of Daily Telegraph are never persuade to cashout or take extreme money that was paid in tax to run the country like the mainstream did during the COVID-19 genocide.
Oh my! A “Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand 2026 report ” …
Trust in msm “alledgedly” lifted in 2026…..
Oh my my! RNZ was ranked “the most trusted news brand”
Oh golly golly gosh! Best we all just start trusting all this wonderful new trustworthiness then! YAY!
HIP HIP HORAY!
Hmm no one asked us! We haven’t watched tv news or read rnz for a decade or more now. It’s just rubbish.
This piece of propaganda slop was burped out by AUT’s Journalism, Media and Democracy research centre, funded through AUT.
42% of all New Zealand universities’ income comes from the government,.
An additional 28% comes from student tuition fees, and
30% from research commercialisation.
Doh!
Trust in news in New Zealand you would have to be brain dead .
No one wants their 30 second sound bites and “stories”, or their opinions. Furthermore we don’t want pidgeon English or outright lies. We want the truth, we want investigation of corruption in our government and local government, we want the truth.
Defund them all and we will reward them for telling the truth with our attention.
I believe everything in the mainstream media. After all, when was the last time they lied?
I’d never lie myself.
Much as I try, I can’t get over the feeling that this has to be one of the biggest, neaningless junkets that there is.
https://www.jmadresearch.com
And they are responsible for the “report”.
Just imagine, if you can, the irrelevent twaddle that they engender.
What a grift.