Recent reports indicate that social media is both the most distrusted and the fastest-growing source of news. It’s distrusted due to misinformation and disinformation yet relied upon because it is most accessible.
According to one of the reports, 70% of Australian journalists regularly consult social media as a source while blaming it for the demise of trust in journalism.
The two interesting reports that hit my inbox this week were the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer and Medianet’s Australian Media Landscape Report. Both are interesting in their own right, but when correlated, they provide a fascinating picture of the media in Australia.
The Edelman report claims its research indicates that half of the 28 countries surveyed distrust the media. Australia is near the top, third behind the UK and Japan, with only 37% of respondents claiming to trust the media.
That is an indictment of the perceived veracity of Australian media outlets.
The Edelman report states that globally, the primary complaint is that the media prioritises attracting a large audience over providing essential information and supports an ideology rather than informing the public.
In the past 12 months, trust in all news sources has declined. Social media remains the most distrusted, with only 42% trusting social media, down 2% from the previous year.
The Edelman report also states that Australians are among the most cynical with 69% of respondents saying it is becoming harder to tell if news is from respected media or an individual trying to deceive people.
Edelman surveyed more than 33,000 people in 28 countries, including 1,553 in Australia.
In addition to the Edelman Trust Barometer, Medianet’s Australian Media Landscape Report provides further insights into the media landscape.
This report was prepared following a survey of 521 journalists in Australia.
Respondents were asked to identify factors they thought threatened public interest journalism in 2025. Three-quarters identified an increase in disinformation or fake news as a threat.
And 67% said fragmentation of the media landscape and the rise of social media as a source of news was negative, because it creates echo chambers.
Yet…and this is staggering…70% of the journalists interviewed said social media was a source for their stories.
All the usual suspects lined up to be curated by journalists with Facebook at number 1 with 79% and fellow Meta platform, Instagram at number 2 with 68%.
Last year’s Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024 corroborates the Edelman report with research indicating that only 40% of Australians trusted news reports and 75% of the population claimed online was their main source of news, with a mammoth 49% relying on social media.
There you have it! The least trusted news source is social media, yet in Australia, it is second behind television news as the most popular news source.
70% of journalists use social media as a source yet blame it for the demise of trust in the media.
No wonder misinformation and disinformation are flourishing. People don’t trust social media and still they rely on it as a news source.
But the good news for professional communicators like Wrights and our clients is that Medianet reports 88% of journalists rely on press releases.
Nothing beats a good press release prepared by a public relations expert for reliable information.
References:
- Edelman. (2025). Edelman Trust Barometer 2025. Retrieved from https://www.edelman.com/trust/2025/trust-barometer
- Medianet. (2025). Australian Media Landscape Report 2025. Retrieved from https://engage.medianet.com.au/2025-media-landscape-report
- Reuters Institute. (2024). Digital News Report 2024. Retrieved from https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2024-06/RISJ_DNR_2024_Digital_v10%20lr.pdf