• Regional and local newspapers are the most credible media: 54% of respondents trust them. 

• Trust in RTVE increases five percentage points (53%), especially among younger and left-wing respondents, and surpasses Antena 3 Noticias as the most credible brand (52%).

Although trust in news in general has hardly improved compared to previous years, the credibility of Spain's main journalistic brands has increased significantly in 2024. Once again, regional or local newspapers taken as a whole are the ones offering the highest percentages of trust (54%) followed by RTVE (53%) and Antena 3 Noticias (52%). In the case of the public television channel, its percentage of trust has increased by almost 6 percentage points with respect to 2023, from 48% to 53%. The increase in credibility has taken place especially among those under 35 years old (last year, 49% trusted RTVE and in 2024 this percentage has increased to 59%) and among the left-wing respondents (from 52% to 65%). 

Other brands analyzed that have also increased their credibility are El Mundo (3 percentage points), Cadena Ser (2.8 percentage points), La Sexta (2.7 percentage points) and Telecinco (2.5 percentage points). In the case of the latter brand, it is worth highlighting the drop in its distrust figures: in 2023, 43% of those surveyed did not trust its news and this year, 39%. Nevertheless, it continues to be, together with OkDiario, the only brand selected that generates more distrust than trust among those who know it. 

Trust by political ideology: polarization grows

There is a marked media polarization based on the political ideology of individuals, especially evident in the traditional media. The results indicate that those media with editorial lines aligned with the left are perceived as more trustworthy by left-wing respondents, while right-wing respondents tend to trust more media that reflect their own ideological inclinations. However, Telecinco represents an exception B, as sample shows less variability in the perception of trust among diverse ideological groups.

 In relation to digital natives, or brands that have a predominant digital presence such as 20 Minutos, the level of polarization is significantly lower than that observed in traditional brands. However, OKDiario constitutes an exception B to this trend, as evidenced in the attached graph: 44% of right-wing respondents trust this medium compared to 22% of those aligned to the left. 

Evolution of trust in journalistic brands (2020 - 2024)

A comparison of the trustworthiness of the major newspaper brands by ideological group in 2020 and 2024 reveals a general decline in the credibility of these media over these five years. The ideological divide, already significant in 2020, has intensified in 2024, particularly in those journalistic brands with more pronounced editorial lines, both right-wing and left-wing. 

In detail, the established digital native media - Eldiario.es and El Confidencial - maintain a more uniform level of trust among their audiences, regardless of ideology. Finally, in the traditional media analyzed most closely aligned with the left (RTVE, El País and Cadena Ser), an increase in trust on the part of the most ideologically aligned audience is observed in 2024, as opposed to a generalized fall in credibility among their audiences closer to the right.