Fewer Filipinos trust the news. Can PH media win them back?

PART I: The state of Philippine news: Trust falls amid changing media habits

MANILA, Philippines — The press faces an immense challenge in reaching more people at a time when fewer Filipinos trust the news, interest is waning and social media has become the dominant gateway to information.

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Based on the latest Digital News Report of the Reuters Institute, only 28% of Filipino respondents said they trusted most news most of the time, down from 38% in 2025 and the steepest decline among the 48 markets surveyed.

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Meanwhile, 51% said they sometimes or often actively avoided the news, up from 48% a year earlier. The proportion who described themselves as extremely or very interested in news also dropped, from 49% to 43%.

These trends point to a widening challenge for news organizations seeking to maintain public confidence and engagement while competing online, where journalism shares a cramped space with intense misinformation.

READ: Filipinos consuming less news, not switching platforms — analyst

But for media experts, the problem goes beyond changing public preferences. It reflects the political and social conditions in which the media operates, as well as the need for news organizations to examine their own practices.

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Danilo Arao, a journalism professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, told INQUIRER.net that the decline in trust and waning interest in news indicate three overlapping problems.

These are persistent poverty, the presence of political opportunists who exploit public frustration, and the struggle of responsible journalism to compete with disinformation amid persistent repression.

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He explained that while extreme poverty persists and plagues millions of people, certain opportunists take advantage of Filipinos’ frustrations by packaging themselves as saviors and discrediting those who oppose them, including journalists and news organizations.

Meanwhile, the efforts of responsible journalists and legitimate media organizations to shape public opinion based on facts “get drowned by the noise of disinformation and the persistence of repression.”

A crisis of ‘credibility’

The latest figures reversed gains in overall trust recorded in the Philippines in preceding years. Trust in news rose from 27% in 2020 to 38% in 2025 before falling sharply in 2026, leaving the country nine percentage points below the global average of 37%.

Trust in the news respondents personally consumed also declined, falling six percentage points to 33%.

Rachel Khan, also a professor at UP Diliman’s Department of Journalism, said distrust in the media is a worldwide phenomenon, but the low trust level recorded in the Philippines was a result of “deliberate attack[s] on the press by previous administrations.”

The problem also reflected the media’s own ethical lapses since the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, which ousted Ferdinand Marcos Sr. after nearly 21 years in Malacañang, she said.

Khan told INQUIRER.net that because people realize the importance of the media in the Philippines during crises, especially typhoons and earthquakes, the media should seize the opportunity to prove itself as a “reliable source” of news that matters.

News that brings hope

Based on the report, which was written by UP Diliman associate professor Yvonne Chua, trust varied considerably across socioeconomic groups, with only 23% of respondents from lower-income households trusting most news most of the time.

That compared with 43% among respondents from higher-income households.

For Arao, rebuilding trust requires journalists to report on the country’s persistent problems while helping people understand that these problems are not necessarily insurmountable.

He said coverage should acknowledge the scale of the country’s difficulties while also examining credible proposals for solutions and amplifying efforts toward meaningful change.

“The national situation can be overwhelming but journalists and news media organizations should have a conscious effort of providing a message of a much better future if there is genuine people’s unity, among other affirmative actions,” he said.

News organizations, he explained, should be more deliberate in selecting the issues that shape the news cycle and avoid an excessive focus on gossip and trivia.

“Journalism is mainly about giving people what they need, not necessarily what they want,” Arao said.

Where do Filipinos consume ‘news’?

The decline in interest and trust coincided with a longer-term change in where Filipinos encounter news. Social media and video networks were the only major weekly news source to register an increase in the Philippines between 2025 and 2026.

Their use rose from 66% to 70%, while weekly access to news websites and apps fell from 50% to 42%. Television use for news declined from 46% to 42%. Radio fell from 17% to 14%, while print dropped from 13% to 10%.

READ: Most Filipinos rely on social media for news — Reuters study

The longer-term figures show a similar pattern. In 2020, 60% of respondents used news websites and apps weekly, 66% used television, 25% used radio and 22% used print. By 2026, those figures had dropped to 42%, 42%, 14% and 10%, respectively.

“Social media remain the dominant source of news in the Philippines, while television and print continue their long-term decline and online news use has plateaued,” Chua explained in the report.

The numbers show that more respondents reported using social media and video networks for news than visiting news organizations’ own websites and applications, even as established outlets continue to publish online.

Facebook, for example, reached 72% of respondents for news-related activities during the week before the survey. YouTube followed at 48%, while Facebook Messenger and TikTok each recorded 33%. Instagram reached 15% and X 9%.

Meet people where they are

For news organizations, this means producing reliable reports is only part of the challenge. They must also ensure that those reports reach the public in the spaces where people increasingly spend their time.

Khan said news organizations need to adopt a multiplatform approach, including producing short vertical videos for Facebook and TikTok that can direct the public to their primary platforms for more information.

Likewise, Arao said newsrooms should establish a presence online while maintaining direct engagement with marginalized and disadvantaged communities.

“Journalists and news media organizations should go where the people are, in cyberspace and beyond. Social media presence is as important as interacting with the marginalized and underrepresented on the ground,” he said.

He also emphasized the importance of language, saying news organizations should use Filipino for wider audiences and local languages in communities where they are more familiar.

“Reportage should reach the people, and the most basic editorial decision is to use the national and local languages,” he said.

Arao observed that peddlers of “fake news” often communicate in languages that are readily understood, even as they spread disinformation.

READ: How to handle online misinformation

For legitimate journalism, the lesson is that accessibility is not merely a matter of presentation. Language can determine whether people understand a report, recognize its relevance and see themselves reflected in its coverage.

Thrive to fight disinformation

Reaching the public on social media, however, also presents risks. While short videos and attention-grabbing headlines may attract viewers or readers, they can oversimplify complicated issues if newsrooms prioritize engagement metrics over substance.

The challenge, then, is to adopt the format without compromising responsible reporting.

The latest Digital News Report revealed that 66% of respondents were worried about distinguishing real information from fake content online, nearly unchanged from 67% in 2025.

At the same time, two-thirds of respondents consumed content from creators or influencers during the preceding week, while 36% accessed content from creators whose main focus was news.

Some 46% encountered creators who primarily covered other subjects but occasionally discussed current events.

READ: Beyond clicks: How social media builds purpose in news

These numbers suggest that the public increasingly encounters information through personalities whose appeal may come from their accessibility, familiarity or entertainment value rather than their affiliation with news organizations.

Investing more in critical reportage

For journalists, this creates competition not only for attention but also for the public’s confidence in deciding what information to believe.

Arao warned, however, that the response cannot simply be to imitate influencers or reproduce the tactics of disinformation networks. He said news organizations should focus more on substance than aesthetics.

“Owners and advertisers should invest more in responsible journalism. They should help create an enabling environment for more critical reportage like investigative journalism,” he said.

As he stressed, “there should be more conscious effort to focus more on the content (substance) and less on the form (aesthetics).”

For Arao, “public trust and news avoidance cannot be addressed overnight.”

“That there exists a chronic social crisis should be reported well, mindful that there is always hope despite the plethora of problems.”

Confronting the waves

For Paolo Prieto, president and chief executive officer of INQUIRER.net, “as the way people consume news continues to evolve, so do we.”

“Across print, digital platforms and video, we continue to expand the ways we reach and serve our audiences while upholding the standards of journalism that have earned their trust. At the heart of this effort is INQUIRER.net, the country’s leading Filipino news website, connecting millions of readers to reliable news and information wherever they may be,” he said.

This year, INQUIRER.net is celebrating its 29th anniversary, a milestone Prieto described as a chance to “continue to evolve, innovate and grow without losing sight of what matters most: journalism that people can trust today and for generations to come.”

“Throughout its history, INQUIRER.net has navigated successive waves of change in the media landscape, from shifting audience habits to technological disruptions. Each challenge has called for innovation, adaptation and decisive action,” he said.

“We honor the dedication of our journalists, editors and staff who work every day to bring important stories to light. We also thank our readers, whose continued trust inspires us to do better and strengthens our commitment to journalism that serves the public, speaks truth to power and gives voice to stories that need to be heard,” Prieto added. /dm

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The INQUIRER. net 29th Anniversary Special is supported by SM Prime, SM Supermalls, and SM Cares.