Trends of trust in PHL’s news media crashed in 2026
By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan
By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan
An artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted analysis of journalism trends in the Philippines revealed that trust in the media was high and had increased toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, but then showed a steep drop as the country moved away from it.
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) has published its Digital News Report (DNR) since 2012 and continues to publish it, with the 2026 edition released in June 2026.
Data for the Philippines were first included in the 2020 DNR, based on a sample that tends to represent more urban, wealthier, and more connected users.
Trends between 2020 and 2026 reflect a significant shift from traditional to digital news sources, high volatility in news trust, and the rapid rise of video-focused social platforms.
Based on Gemini Notebook’s analysis of the DNRs from 2013 to 2026, cross-checked by Daily Guardian, trust in news in the Philippines fell sharply in 2026, dropping 10 percentage points to 28 percent amid a broader shift toward online and social media consumption.
Overall trust had risen from 27 percent in 2020 to a peak of 38 percent in 2023, partly as audiences relied more heavily on news during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
Trust remained relatively stable at 37 percent in 2024, and 38 percent in 2025, before falling in 2026.
The decline came even as trust in some major individual news brands remained steady, suggesting broader concerns about the news environment, including political polarization and disinformation.
MORE ONLINE, LESS OFFLINE
Traditional news platforms continued to lose ground during the period, with television use for news falling from 66 percent in 2020 to 42 percent in 2026.
The closure of ABS-CBN’s free-to-air stations in 2020 after its franchise renewal was denied significantly affected the reach of broadcast news, according to the data.
Print readership likewise declined, falling from 22 percent in 2020 to 10 percent in 2026.
Online sources, including social media, remained the leading source of news, with usage at 85 percent in both 2020 and 2026 despite dipping slightly to 82 percent in 2024.
Weekly social media use for news increased from 68 percent in 2020 to 70 percent in 2026, after reaching a peak of 73 percent in 2022.
INCREASE IN VIDEO, VISUAL NEWS PLATFORMS
The trends also indicated a shift in news preferences among social media users, with most still clinging to Facebook, but seeing a steady rise among users flocking to short-form video or visual-based platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Facebook remained the leading social network for news in the Philippines throughout the period, although its use fluctuated.
It was used by 73 percent of respondents consistently from 2020 to 2022 before declining minimally to 72 percent in 2023 and falling further to 61 percent in 2024, but recovered to 65 percent in 2025 and rose to 72 percent in 2026.
Its messaging component, Facebook Messenger, was measured separately by the reports, with a rise from 33 percent in 2020 to 36 percent in 2021 before declining to 35 percent in 2022 and 33 percent in 2023.
Usage fell further to 26 percent in 2024, then edged up to 27 percent in 2025 and 33 percent in 2026.
YouTube also remained a major platform for news, with usage increasing from 49 percent in 2020 to 53 percent in 2021 and 57 percent in 2022.
It then declined to 55 percent in 2023 and 45 percent in 2024 before recovering to 50 percent in 2025 and settling at 48 percent in 2026.
TikTok recorded the strongest growth among the platforms shown, rising steadily from just 2 percent of respondents using it for news in 2020 to 6 percent in 2021, 15 percent in 2022 and 21 percent in 2023.
Its share continued to increase to 23 percent in 2024, 29 percent in 2025 and 33 percent in 2026.
Instagram’s use for news remained relatively stable, at 12 percent in both 2020 and 2021, before increasing to 15 percent in 2022.
It dipped to 14 percent in 2023, returned to 12 percent in 2024 and then rose to 14 percent in 2025 and 15 percent in 2026.
X, formerly Twitter, showed an overall decline in use for news, falling from 16 percent in 2020 to 19 percent in 2021 before returning to 16 percent in 2022 and 2023.
Its share dropped to 9 percent in 2024, recovered slightly to 11 percent in 2025, and fell back to 9 percent in 2026.
This report was written with the aid of the Gemini Notebook of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s Digital News Reports from 2013 to 2026, and has been cross-checked manually by Daily Guardian for accuracy. Read Daily Guardian’s AI policy here.
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