Reported by Weng Patrick Atokor l Journalist at Weng Global
Nigeria and Kenya have recorded relatively high levels of trust in news even as confidence in journalism worldwide has fallen to its lowest level since the Reuters Institute began tracking the measure in 2015.
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s 2026 Digital News Report found that 68% of respondents in both Nigeria and Kenya said they trust news overall, compared with a global average of 37%.
The findings place Nigeria and Kenya among the markets with comparatively high levels of trust in news in the 48-country survey, although the figures require careful interpretation because the samples in both countries were drawn from younger, mainly English-speaking online news users rather than being fully representative of their entire populations.
The report comes at a time when the global news industry is facing major changes in how audiences discover, consume and evaluate information.
Global trust in news falls to 37%
According to the Reuters Institute, overall trust in news fell by three percentage points globally in 2026, from 40% to 37%.
The decline means global trust has reached its lowest level since the Reuters Institute started measuring the indicator in 2015.
Trust fell significantly in 29 of the 48 markets covered by the latest report, while 19 markets recorded declines of at least five percentage points.
The Institute said the decline is occurring alongside wider uncertainty over political, economic and technological developments, as well as increasing concerns about misinformation and the changing role of digital platforms in news distribution.
The global findings also point to a major shift in how audiences access information.
For the first time in the Reuters Institute’s reporting, social media and video networks have become more popular globally than television and news websites or applications as sources of news.
The shift means that audiences are increasingly encountering journalism through platforms where news stories are mixed with commentary, entertainment, user-generated content and other forms of information.
The report also found that 62% of respondents globally are concerned about what is real and what is fake online, an increase from the previous year. Concerns about misinformation were particularly high in Nigeria and Kenya.
Nigeria maintains 68% trust level
Nigeria recorded an overall news trust score of 68% in the 2026 report.
The Reuters Institute described Nigeria’s media market as one of Africa’s largest and most vibrant, with a highly digital audience and a rapidly expanding social media ecosystem.
The Nigerian media environment includes established television broadcasters, newspapers, radio organisations and digital-native outlets operating alongside international news providers.
The report noted that Nigeria’s media landscape continues to be shaped by political pressure, commercial challenges, questions around press freedom and the growing use of artificial intelligence.
Despite those pressures, the 68% overall trust figure indicates that respondents in the survey continue to express relatively high confidence in news.
The Reuters Institute cautions, however, that the figure represents the opinions of survey respondents. It is not an objective measurement of whether news organisations are actually trustworthy.
For the brand-level trust questions, respondents were asked to rate news organisations on a scale from zero to 10. Scores between six and 10 were classified as trust, while scores between zero and four were classified as lack of trust.
The Institute specifically warns that trust figures represent respondents’ subjective assessments and should not be interpreted as an independent verification of the quality or reliability of any particular news organisation.
Kenya also records 68%
Kenya recorded the same 68% overall trust score.
The Reuters Institute said trust in news remains relatively strong in Kenya, although audiences increasingly distinguish between individual news sources rather than placing equal confidence in the media as a whole.
The Kenyan media environment is undergoing significant changes as social media, video platforms and digital creators become increasingly important sources of information.
The report identified WhatsApp as an influential channel for circulating political information, rumours and mobilisation, while TikTok and YouTube have become important entry points for news and current affairs, particularly among younger audiences.
X also plays an important role, with influencers, activists and Spaces hosts increasingly participating in political discussion and real-time interpretation of events.
At the same time, Kenya’s traditional media organisations continue to face economic pressure.
The Reuters Institute reported that advertising revenue is increasingly moving towards global digital platforms, leaving domestic news organisations competing for a smaller share of advertising income.
The report also highlighted financial pressures associated with delayed government advertising payments and changes in media ownership, developments that have raised questions about the sustainability and independence of the Kenyan news industry.
High trust exists alongside growing misinformation concerns
The relatively high trust levels recorded in Nigeria and Kenya should not be interpreted as meaning that audiences have no concerns about the information they encounter.
The Reuters Institute’s global findings show an increasingly complicated relationship between audiences and news.
People continue to rely heavily on digital platforms for information, while simultaneously expressing concern about misinformation and the reliability of material encountered online.
This creates a significant challenge for news organisations.
A story can now reach millions of people through social networks within minutes, but audiences may encounter the original report alongside commentary, manipulated material, artificial intelligence-generated content, rumours and completely unrelated posts.
The result is an information environment in which the ability to establish credibility can be as important as the ability to reach audiences.
For African newsrooms, the challenge is particularly significant because social media and messaging platforms have become deeply integrated into everyday communication.
AI is adding another layer to the trust debate
Artificial intelligence is also changing the relationship between news organisations and audiences.
The Reuters Institute’s 2026 report examines the emerging use of AI chatbots for news and the implications for journalism.
The report found that people are increasingly experimenting with AI tools as another way of accessing information.
However, trust in news obtained through AI systems remains lower than trust in news overall.
The Institute reported that global trust in news encountered through social media stood at 22%, while trust in answers to news queries from AI chatbots stood at 20%.
This creates both an opportunity and a challenge for professional newsrooms.
AI can assist journalists with tasks such as research, transcription, translation, data analysis and audience distribution, but news organisations still have to maintain editorial controls that ensure information is checked before publication.
For readers, the growth of AI-generated information makes source verification increasingly important.
What the findings mean for African newsrooms
The Nigerian and Kenyan results offer an important picture of the African media environment.
While global confidence in news has weakened, audiences in both countries continue to report comparatively high levels of trust.
That trust, however, exists within rapidly changing media ecosystems.
Readers are no longer dependent on newspapers, television and radio alone.
They can encounter breaking news through WhatsApp messages, TikTok videos, YouTube channels, X posts, Facebook pages, influencers, creators and AI-powered tools.
This means African news organisations face a dual responsibility: reaching audiences where they are while maintaining the standards that distinguish professional journalism from unverified online content.
Accuracy, transparent sourcing, corrections and clear separation between reporting and opinion therefore remain important elements of newsroom credibility.
The Reuters Institute’s findings also suggest that simply producing more content may not be enough to build stronger relationships with audiences.
The 2026 report notes that the news environment is increasingly characterised by declining interest among some groups, news avoidance and a growing reliance on third-party platforms.
Globally, 42% of respondents said they sometimes or often avoid the news. The report also found that a quarter of respondents are now casual or passive news users who typically consume news only once a week and have little or no interest in it, up from 16% in 2021.
For newsrooms, this places greater emphasis on producing journalism that helps audiences understand complicated events rather than simply adding to the volume of information available online.
The limitations behind the 68% figures
The 68% figures for Nigeria and Kenya should also be understood within the methodology used by the Reuters Institute.
The 2026 Digital News Report was based on research conducted by YouGov between mid-January and the end of February 2026.
Across the 48 markets, the study involved almost 100,000 interviews with online news consumers.
However, the Institute says the data for Nigeria, Kenya, India and South Africa represent younger English-speaking audiences rather than their entire national populations.
In Nigeria and Kenya, the survey was restricted to respondents aged 18 to 50. The research was conducted primarily in English, although respondents in Kenya had the option of selecting Swahili.
The Institute therefore cautions readers against treating the findings as fully nationally representative.
This distinction is important.
The 68% figure tells us what the surveyed group reported about its trust in news. It should not be interpreted as meaning that exactly 68% of every Nigerian or Kenyan adult trusts the news.
Why trust remains important
Trust is one of the most important assets available to a professional newsroom.
When audiences believe that a news organisation reports accurately, attributes information properly and corrects mistakes when they occur, they are more likely to return to that organisation when major events unfold.
For African publishers operating in increasingly crowded digital markets, establishing that relationship can be especially important.
The growth of social media and AI means that audiences have more information choices than ever before, but greater choice does not necessarily make it easier to determine what is reliable.
Professional news organisations can therefore distinguish themselves through transparent reporting, credible sourcing, original journalism and useful context.
The challenge is not simply to persuade readers to trust a particular publication.
It is to demonstrate through consistent reporting why that publication deserves their attention.
A changing relationship between audiences and journalism
The Reuters Institute’s 2026 findings point to a broader transformation in journalism.
Traditional media remain important, but the routes through which people discover news are changing rapidly.
Social networks and video platforms are becoming central distribution channels, while AI is emerging as another gateway to information.
At the same time, global trust in news has fallen and concerns about misinformation have increased.
Nigeria and Kenya provide a notable contrast within this wider picture, with both recording 68% overall trust in news in the 2026 survey.
For Weng Global and other African digital newsrooms, the findings underscore the importance of building sustainable relationships with audiences through journalism that is accurate, independently reported, clearly sourced and relevant to readers.
The future of news will not depend only on how quickly a newsroom can publish.
It will increasingly depend on whether audiences can distinguish its journalism from the vast amount of unverified information surrounding it.
As news consumption continues to move towards platforms, creators and artificial intelligence, credibility will remain central to the relationship between African newsrooms and the communities they serve.
Weng Global – Stories beyond borders
Sources
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026 — Global Overview and Key Findings.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026 — Nigeria.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026 — Kenya.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026 — Methodology.
