Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Oxford University research centre that publishes the annual Digital News Report, the most widely cited global study of news consumption and trust across dozens of countries.
Last refreshed: 28 June 2026
If only 20% of people trust AI news, why are AI chatbot use figures still rising each year?
Timeline for Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
AI news use rises as trust stays low
Media's AI PivotWhat did the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026 find about AI?
Which country trusts AI news the least?
What is the Reuters Institute Digital News Report?
Background
The Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026, published on 16 June 2026, found that weekly AI chatbot use for news reached 10% globally (up from 7% in 2025), while trust in AI chatbot answers stood at just 20% worldwide and 6% in the United Kingdom, the lowest of any country surveyed. Overall news trust fell to 37%, its lowest level since 2015. Usage doubled in Greece, South Korea, and Spain while staying flat in the US, UK, France, and Germany; 42% of chatbot news users clicked through to original sources.
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is a research centre at the University of Oxford, founded in 2006 and partly endowed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. It publishes the annual Digital News Report, the most widely cited global study of news consumption patterns, surveying tens of thousands of people across more than 40 countries.
The 2026 report is the primary empirical baseline for the AI-and-news debate, quantifying the gap between AI news adoption and audience trust at a pivotal moment as publishers, platforms, and regulators design rules for AI-generated news content.
Is overall news trust rising or falling globally?
