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DIGITAL NEWS REPORT 2026
The Value of the Journalistic Brand in the Face of New Media Channels and Players
Overview
The Digital News Report Spain 2026 paints a less bleak picture of the news landscape than in previous years, with a slight recovery in interest and trust in the news, though it is still far from a solid recovery. The report a market full of contrasts, where traditional media coexists with new players such as content creators and influencers, whose use as news sources already reaches nearly a quarter of the audience. It delves into the increasingly indirect access to news—through social media, search engines, aggregators, and AI chatbots—the decline in per diem expenses , and the reasons why people are abandoning or not using certain sources. It also addresses record-high concerns about misinformation, the evaluation public media, payment for digital news, and, in a special chapter, how young people under the age of 24 stay informed.
GENERAL TRENDS IN NEWS CONSUMPTION
Spaniards now use half as many news sources as they did ten years ago 
SOURCES | AURKEN SIERRA
Media platforms that have been abandoned and those that were never adopted: the story behind the lack of news consumption in Spain
SOURCES | AURKEN SIERRA
The range of brands continues to shrink
BRANDS | AURKEN SIERRA
Spaniards have more consistent news-consumption habits than people in other countries
SOURCES | RONCESVALLES LABIANO
TRUST, EVASION, AND HOAXES
A slight recovery in confidence in the news amid a still very fragile situation
TRUST | ALFONSO VARA-MIGUEL
News avoidance: a guideline in news consumption
INFORMATION EVASION | AURKEN SIERRA
Concerns about misinformation have reached an all-time high
MISINFORMATION | ALFONSO VARA-MIGUEL
IMPARTIALITY, INDEPENDENCE, AND PUBLIC MEDIA
Spaniards prefer to get their news from neutral media rather than from partisan sources
IMPARTIALITY | ALFONSO VARA-MIGUEL
Politics, ownership, and advertisers: the main sources of influence on journalists
INDEPENDENCE | ALFONSO VARA-MIGUEL
JOURNALISTIC COVERAGE OF SPECIAL EVENTS
evaluation of special news reports
TRUST | MARÍA FERNANDA NOVOA-JASO
SOCIAL MEDIA, CONTENT CREATORS, AND CHATBOTS
Social media is cementing its position as entrance news
SOCIAL MEDIA | ALFONSO VARA-MIGUEL
Chatbots are reducing the tendency to click on news sources
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | ALFONSO VARA-MIGUEL
From Facebook Instagram and TikTok): A Decade of Using Social Media for News
SOCIAL NETWORKS : AURKEN SIERRA
INFORMATIVE VIDEOS, DEVICES, AND SMART TVS
Consumption of news videos via social media
FORMATS | MARIA FERNANDA NOVOA-JASO
The Smartphone as the Primary News Source: Devices and News Consumption in Spain (2017–2026)
DEVICES | AURKEN SIERRA
PAYMENT FOR DIGITAL NEWS
Subscription, utility, and brand: the keys to the minority model of paid digital news
PAYMENT | ALFONSO VARA-MIGUEL
The less I like it, the more we hang out and talk
PARTICIPATION | ALFONSO VARA-MIGUEL
About the report
A comprehensive analysis of the trends, challenges and risks of journalism in Spain and how the consumption of information is evolving.
Digital News Report Spain is an annual report prepared by the School of Communication of the University of Navarra in partnership with the Reuters Institute of the University of Oxford.
The authors of report are Ph.D. researchers from DIGITAL UNAV - Center for Internet Studies and Digital Life of the School of Communication of the University of Navarra, sponsor and partner academic of the project Digital News Report since the 2014 edition.
Unless otherwise specified, all data comes from an online survey by YouGov, with sample 2,008 adults in Spain and work in late February 2026, for the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, an international study covering 48 markets, led by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, and supported by sponsors and academic partners worldwide. Researchers from the University of Navarra are responsible for the analysis and interpretation of the data report News report Spain.
AT PARTNERSHIP WITH THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY
FINANCED BY
This publication is part of project NEXTDIGIMEDIA research and development project —Artificial Intelligence in Digital Media in Spain, REF. PID 2024-156034OB-C21, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and the ERDF/EU.
This publication is part of project Plus project —Iberian Digital average —which has received funding from the European Commission under the call for proposals DIGITAL-2023-DEPLOY-04, European Digital average (EDMO) – National and Multinational Hubs, with the reference letter PLUS -101158511.
HOW TO CITE THIS REPORT
Labiano, Roncesvalles, Novoa-Jaso, María Fernanda, Sierra, Aurken, and Vara-Miguel, Alfonso (2026): Digital News Report Spain 2026. Pamplona: Publishing Services the University of Navarra.https://doi.org/10.15581/019.2026