LOCAL newspapers and their online channels are among the most trusted sources for news in the country, a new report has shown.

The Reuters Digital News Report 2026 shows that 69% of those surveyed trust their local newspapers, while levels of distrust are lowest for local media compared with all other news sources, including broadcast, print and online.

President of Local Ireland and managing director of The Southern Star, Seán Mahon, said: “The report shows once again that local newspaper brands, both in print and online, continue to be amongst the most trusted media brands in Ireland.

‘Our combined print and online consumption means we’ve never had so many readers thanks to our digital expansion.’

The Reuters report found that 22% of people in Ireland are now paying for news online, up from 9% ten years ago. When Irish respondents were asked why they paid for online news, 39% said they do in order to get useful content they can’t access any other way, with 38% saying it was to support journalism because they think it is important to society.

The report shows that while trust in generally-sourced news is declining in Ireland, it still has higher levels of trust than in other countries, and for major news brands in Ireland, such as local news publishers, trust is still very strong.

Rónán Ó Domhnaill, media development Commissioner at Coimisiún na Meán, said the annual report from a prestigious and trusted news agency (Reuters) offers an opportunity to ‘pause and reflect on Ireland’s media landscape’.

He added it was also an opportunity ‘to better understand from the Irish public how they read, watch, listen, stream and engage with news’.

He continued: ‘This year’s report offers a fascinating insight into the dynamics at play in a complex, fragmented news ecosystem. While Irish audiences remain interested in news, there has been a significant decline in their trust in news generally, while trust in major news brands has remained steady.

‘The ambition of Coimisiún na Meán is to develop and maintain a media landscape that consumers can trust. We do not take the Irish public’s continued interest in news for granted, and the findings underline the need for ongoing attention to the sustainability of the media sector, media literacy, and the evolving role of platforms and technologies in shaping the news media environment.

‘For our part, An Coimisiún will continue to support Ireland’s media landscape through investing in high-quality news reporting through our Journalism Schemes and with our support for media literacy initiatives.’

Research for the Digital News Report is undertaken by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford and analysis of the Irish data is provided by the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (FuJo).

The full report for Ireland can be found at www.cnam.ie