The 2025 Trust in News report reveals trust in legacy mainstream media in New Zealand has continued its sharp decline, falling to just 32%, down from 53% in 2020.
Public scepticism is increasingly driven by perceptions of political bias, sensationalism, and the blurring of opinion and fact in reporting.
A majority of respondents cited concerns about misleading headlines and biased journalism.
Many New Zealanders are also actively avoiding news due to emotional fatigue, distrust, and a belief that media serves ideological or commercial interests rather than informing the public.
Focus groups echoed these concerns, with both younger and older participants expressing strong dissatisfaction with the quality, tone, and relevance of domestic news.
The full report can be downloaded here.
Highlights of the report included the following feedback:
- “Unfortunately the articles in most traditional news sources have become opinion pieces pushing a specific ideology or agenda rather than good solid unbiased journalism that just presents the facts.” – Male, NZ European/Pākehā, 35–44 years
- “I miss the days when news was balanced.” – Male, NZ European/Pākehā, 55–64 years
- “I actively avoid a lot these days as it is full of opinion pieces and not a lot of factual well-researched unbiased news.” – Female, NZ European/Pākehā, 65–74 years
- “Because it’s corrupt and dishonest. They are far left and just nasty.” – Female, 25–34 years, Māori, ACT voter
- “The reporters never seem to research anything and let the politicians just make stuff up with no challenge and they have a right-wing bias.” – Female, NZ European/Pākehā, 45–54 years, Labour voter
- “It’s all sensationalist and designed to trigger anger or disgust. It’s also opinions presented as fact.” – Male, Other, 25–34 years
- “Emotive reporting. Left wing bias in political news. Clickbait headlines. Narrow range of viewpoints on contestable subjects. Advocacy disguised as journalism.” – Male, NZ European, 45–54 years
- “They’re not reflecting reality. It’s talking for themselves and the elites, but not for us plebs … [it’s] politically and socially biased.” – Male, NZ European/Pākehā, 75+ years
- “Because the quality of journalism is poor. Newsrooms lean mostly left and I prefer unbiased news that isn’t opinion driven.” – Male, NZ European, 45–54 years
The one source of truth
When Cindy said that I totally lost all trust in her snd the MSN
Government mainstream propaganda is finished. Only the elderly read it. On occasion, I check what they are advocating.
A lot of elderly people have no trust in MSM as well!
Made a bumper sticker:
To hell with MSM: dailytelegraph.co.nz
Get lots of toots and thumbs up.
Good sideline hustle- sell them for $5 on TradeMe.
Gives DT good exposure, speaks what alot of us know…and you make a buck
Na, I give them away. One of me hobbies. And there are more expensive ones
Know what ammo costs these days?
Notice also that the NZ MSM NEVER talks about the Palestinians, the Gaza Genocide, or those protesting against Israel.
ALL of the MSM is J3wi$h-owned, controlled, and dispensed. This is no exception here in NZ..!
As Kiwis, we need to be vigilant to insure that our reporters are not biased, and that IF we see a Zionist / J3wi$h Modus Operandi which threatens us with being deported, jailed, (as in the U.S. and the U.K. and parts of Europe…) for speaking out against the J3w$, Israel, and the Zionist Ops, then we will need to use every legal aspect available to us to insure that our rights are upheld.
This means pulling out ALL of the stops…
That may involve lawyers, boycotting Israel, speaking out against Genocide and false Holocaust numbers, and demanding the removal of those in Parliament who demand penalties, punishments, and deportations for speaking out against the criminal, genocidal false ‘State of Israel’
The Governor-General and the Ombudsman should be aware that any penalties, punishments, deportations, and removal of licences for speaking out against the Zionists are unlawful, and cannot be re-classified as ‘Hate Crimes’.
We should also see who in Government has taken J3wi$h money with the agreement that they would make the criticism and the calling-out of Israel’s massive criminal activities a crime for doing so, and who might be in due time following the policies of J3wi$h-Convert Donald Trump.
State “media” has morphed regressively and intently into State mis/dis information, replete with globalist ideological grooming. It is a predictable, inflammatory, divisive, unequal and exclusive narrative that reliably presents as a preposterous distortion, or rank lie. The Marxist UNEP SDGs are its shoal and 2030 its doom.
Do not waste a moment watching, listening or reading its kakistocratic nonsense. One could write the byelines and articles from the headlines, or conversely the headlines from the articles with little effort.
State media are quite simply beyond redemption, appearing together with our politicians, institutional and business ‘leaders’, as the cadre of the deeply flawed and self-interested.
The Fourth Estate evolved into a treacherous and tenacious social parasite, eroding liberty and actively undermining social cohesion and trust. It is an obvious globalist tool and a bane upon civilisation, culture, customs and tradition.
Its dwindling toward irrelevance is a welcome sign though should remember that the resultant vacuum will be filled by the Machiavellian machinations of State psy-op nudge units, State UNIntelligence agencies, hate speech laws, and rank globalist tyranny … unless we awaken.
Having a discussion here…we’re trying to think of a movie/show depicting this grotesque self-importance of a horde of vain and greedy lunatics, something definitely set in an asylum where the cams look like TV cameras and they think the world revolves only around them, the important.
Mate says Faulty Towers? The Office? Other mate says “the banks need to have a part”.
Movies? “The International”?
Why not just watch TV .
Hard to beat the lunacy of the smirk-heads thinking they are the lead actor in their own Trueman Show.
How do we switch the channel?
Any ideas ?
I don’t bother with NZ mainstream medis as I don’t have time to waste. My go-to websites for news are all based off-shore. When I check this site daily for local news, I notice news from some international sites sometimes re-appears on this site the next day or a few days later. Weather, market, or traffic information is available elsewhere so there isn’t any need to waste time with mainstream media.
“…they have a right-wing bias.” – Female, NZ European/Pākehā, 45–54 years, Labour voter”
Sweet Jesus
It’s smartest to trust no media at all, but keep an eye on what they’re all saying. Comparing all the lies inevitably leads to cracks in the narratives which could yield the truth when better interrogated.
No nuanced ideas or commentary that seeks to look at things in a minority or pragmatic new light.A lot of the comments are spot on!
Whats amusing is anyone still thinks there’s actually a left and right wing? As we are seeing. well some of us, there are only globalists, who pass the same policies, serve the same international masters in venture capital, the elite Davos sect and the like. Its their message the creeps in the MSM are pushing. The politicians are just servants, like the journo’s.
I see the only difference between a Labour and a National government is, the degradation occurs faster under Labour. Both take their talking points from NGO’s like the UN and WEF. MSM have become a government and corporate funded propergander and indoctrination tool.
Join, support and vote for the New Zealand Loyal Party, which is opposed to the current Uni-Party regime’s way of ‘doing business with the Global (Demonic) Entities.
Wow! How interesting.
32% of New Zealanders actually trust our sinister depraved lying creepy far-left woke media.
That seems very high.
Woke media think they see a light at the end of tunnel, i.e. the decline is “stabilizing”. It isn’t, that’s the train a coming…
These nunbers are fake. I put the percentage of people who trust msm at around 10%. Theyre dead. No one likes them or cares what they have to say. Even those who watch it dont trust what theyre watching.
New defense budget one billion dollars for “software”. What this means is that NZ will be turned into a security state and we will be spied on more intensely. If you read DTNZ or other non-mainstream media, you will be shortlisted. DNS servers and other big tech tools will identify you as “undesirable” soon. Stasi state is where we are heading.