• By Silvia Higuera
• June 17, 2026

Trust in news is at an all-time low around the world, and four Latin American countries are among those with the steepest declines.

Since the Reuters Institute began measuring trust in 2015, it has never been lower, standing at 37% globally. According to the organization’s 2026 Digital News Report, this decline follows three years of stability at 40% and affects 29 of the 48 markets surveyed; in 19 countries, trust dropped by at least 5 percentage points.

Peru is the Latin American country that saw the greatest drop in trust, losing 8 percentage points compared to the previous year. In addition to Peru—which ranks fourth among countries globally with the largest declines in trust in the news—Colombia, Brazil and Argentina also appear in the top 10.

Colombia saw a 7-percentage-point drop compared to 2025 and has the lowest level of trust in news in the region, at 25%. Meanwhile, Argentina and Brazil each lost 6 points; Argentina ranks second only to Colombia, with a trust level of 26%.

“It is difficult precisely to disentangle declining trust in news organisations from broader scepticism about political and social institutions,” the Digital News Report said. Likewise, issues such as political instability and polarizing elections are characteristic of countries where trust in the news has declined significantly, the report noted.

Colombia—where the percentage of trust in news stood at 40% in 2021, when it was first measured for the Digital News Report—is not immune to these global trends, Víctor García-Perdomo, author of the report’s section on Colombia and dean of the School of Communication at the Universidad de la Sabana, told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR).

García-Perdomo said that three factors contributed to this decline: the first—common in Latin America and some countries in Asia and Africa—relates to consumption habits, as people who receive and consume more information from social media platforms and videos are more inclined to distrust the information in circulation.

The second has to do with political polarization.

“Colombia has been going through a highly polarized election period, and in one way or another, this has placed the media at the center of controversy or made them part of the political arena,” García-Perdomo said. “This erodes some users' trust in the media, due to attacks by high-level politicians and also because the media sometimes become part of that polarization and political arena.”

Thirdly—identified by the report as a global trend—is the widespread distrust of institutions, which is sometimes also a consequence of polarization. “That obviously permeates trust in the media, because the media are democratic institutions,” he said.

Distrust in institutions, political instability and electoral polarization converged in Peru, leading to the “undermining of trust in the media”—especially traditional outlets—Lourdes Cueva Chacón, author of the Peru section and a journalism professor at San Diego State University, told LJR.

Election coverage, Cueva said, was one of the factors that undermined that trust, given that the coverage was polarizing, according to the Preliminary Declaration of the European Union Election Observation Mission.

“That said, it is true that [the Reuters Institute] survey this year was conducted in February—before the general elections—but Peru has been going through a long period of political instability,” Cueva said. “We have made headlines around the world for the speed at which we change presidents and for serious attacks on the press.”

Attacks on the press may well reflect the polarized atmosphere and the climate of distrust toward media outlets and journalists, the report said. In the case of Peru, four journalists were killed in 2025 for reasons related to their work. “Something that hadn’t happened in Peru in decades,” Cueva said.

Strengthen brands to build trust

A positive aspect highlighted by the report is that, although trust in news in general has declined, trust in specific brands –including traditional media outlets in some cases– remains relatively high globally.

In other words, audiences generally continue to trust recognized media outlets when it comes to information, especially during times of crisis.

“[In times of crisis] people turn to traditional media because they know that information is curated and that it at least attempts to come a little closer to reality,” García-Perdomo said.

In Colombia, for example, regional television news programs command a 59% trust rating, while specific newscasts like Noticias Uno register 58%, followed by the public channel’s broadcast at 57%. Although the figure has dropped compared to previous years, it remains high, García-Perdomo said. He believes it is important for media outlets to capitalize on that trust and take steps to prevent it from declining further.

Part of these strategies involves getting closer to the audience and understanding what they are looking for. When asked what they want, audiences pointed to more balanced information.

“Against the backdrop of disruptive political, economic and social change, core news values nevertheless remain relevant,” the report said. “While opinions may be fragmenting in many countries, support for principles such as impartiality persists, even if audiences express dissatisfaction with aspects of their current news experience. People still care about what news and journalism – in new ways and in some traditional forms – aspire to.”

Another way to reach the audience, Cueva said, is to see where they are looking for information. The report, for example, showed a clear trend toward consuming news via video.

“My recommendation would be to dedicate more time to platforms like TikTok and Instagram, but especially YouTube, which is now viewed as a platform for finding news,” Cueva said. “All this without losing one’s personality or brand, because that is what builds audience trust.”

The Digital News Report is available in English and Spanish.

This article was translated with AI assistance and reviewed by Teresa Mioli