Local and regional newspapers are among the most trusted news sources in Australia, ranking behind only public broadcasters, according to the University of Canberra’s 2026 Digital News Report.
The study found that 61 per cent of Australians consider local and regional newspapers trustworthy, while only 12 per cent rated them untrustworthy. The figures place local news outlets ahead of major commercial media brands on measures of public trust.
By comparison, the report found 46 per cent of Australians viewed the Daily Telegraph as trustworthy, with 23 per cent rating it untrustworthy. The Age recorded a trust rating of 51 per cent and an untrustworthiness rating of 17 per cent.
The findings have prompted renewed calls for government support for local and independent journalism as policymakers consider plans to redistribute revenue raised through a proposed tax on global technology companies to support public interest journalism.
Democracy Counts Campaign Director Tom Mooney said the results highlighted the importance of ensuring smaller news organisations are included in any future funding arrangements.
“A tax on tech giants to fund public interest journalism is a really necessary thing to protect democracy, but the current proposal needs tweaking to ensure it’s not just the big news media players that benefit,” Mooney said.
“Australia has one of the most concentrated news markets in the world and hundreds of local and independent newsrooms have closed in recent years. This has left communities without local news and information, a gap ripe to be filled by malicious or AI-driven misinformation and disinformation.”
Mr Mooney warned that the decline of local journalism was reducing scrutiny of local political decisions and weakening community connections traditionally fostered by regional and niche publications.
The report also found higher levels of distrust in news among people living outside major cities, women, Australians under the age of 35, lower-income earners and those with less formal education.
Researchers identified a strong link between distrust in news and news avoidance, suggesting audiences who feel disconnected from media coverage are more likely to disengage from news altogether.
“If you don’t see the issues that matter to your local community or people like you reflected in the news, you lose trust, and you disengage,” Mooney said.
“We need to break the cycle of media deserts, distrust and disengagement by ensuring local and independent newsrooms can survive and thrive. Democracy cannot function without well-informed citizens and public interest journalism.”
The findings come amid ongoing debate over the future sustainability of local journalism and the role of public interest media in combating misinformation and maintaining civic participation across Australia.
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