• Transparency of information, fair media representation and ideological concordance are presented as a guarantee for trust in the media. 

• Both left- and right-leaning voters share the demand for transparency and alignment of values in the media to foster trust in information.

In addition to the general data , the 2024 survey includes a specific section of criteria for trust in the media. In this year's report , Spanish audiences were asked to what extent they consider the following aspects to be important in attributing trust to the news: media trajectory, negativity, ideological bias, sensationalist view, transparency, values, fair representation of citizens and journalistic standards. 

The data totals reveal that of the eight criteria mentioned, media transparency in the reporting of information acquires high importance (76%). This percentage is followed by fair representation of citizens as a criterion of trust (69%). On the other hand, 62% of Internet users suggest that trust is based on the concordance of values between the audience and the media and on the presence of journalistic standards. Likewise, 61% put the emphasis on the media's track record. The latter is related to brands, especially those representing traditional media (press, radio and television). 

For 49% of respondents, media bias is relevant to ensure reliability. In this sense, the line publishing house of a media outlet can define its levels of trustworthiness. Likewise, the presentation of sensationalist and exaggerated content is also important for four out of ten Internet users (43%). With regard to the intermediate values, we can see that the negativity of the content is not an essential criterion for assessing trust. For this reason, 38% of respondents take a neutral position and 22% consider this news value to be "not very important" or "not important at all" for guaranteeing trustworthiness. On the contrary, the search for hard news through reliable sources can motivate news coverage of tragedies, conflicts, scandals or social problems, leaving aside or minimizing positive news or solutions to problems. 

In general, the percentages attributing leave importance to the aspects mentioned are below 30%. The most significant value has to do with exaggeration and the presence of sensationalist content. As can be seen in the graph, this is not a relevant criterion for 29% of the Spanish audience. 

Outstanding criteria for trust in the media

As we have seen, the value to which the greatest relevance is attributed for trust in the media is transparency. In the analysis of the sociodemographic variables, we can see that the issue of women who consider information transparency "important" or "very important" (78%) is four percentage points higher than that of men (74%). In terms of age, there is a progressive increase in the different age groups. Thus, more than 80% of participants over 55 years of age express a greater commitment to media transparency than the younger generations, whose percentage of agreement is around 70%. 

The second reason to which respondents pay most attention is the fair representation of the citizenry. In this case, issue of women (72%) is significantly higher than that of men (66%). Furthermore, in the evolution by age bracket, we also see a higher level of concern for this factor among respondents aged 55 to 64 years (75%). The generational difference becomes more evident when comparing the figure for young people between 18 and 24 years of age (60%). A similar trend by age is observed among those who appreciate the concordance with media values. In a way, this factor is related to ideological gratification. Likewise, the issue of women (64%) who value ideological attunement exceeds that of men (59%) by five percentage points. As can be seen, we find fewer differences between young and mature audiences. Ideological identification is a common phenomenon and is around 60% in all age groups. 

 When analyzing other important aspects of trust (media trajectory and journalistic standards), we found that the percentage of men who attribute greater importance to the media's journalistic standards (63%) is slightly higher than that of women (60%). However, women outnumber men in indicating the trajectory of the medium as a primary factor. As can be seen, in both cases there is an upward trend in terms of age. The trajectory of the media and its journalistic standards arouse more concern among the veteran audience than among the younger ones. 

Concern for media transparency is a relevant aspect at all educational levels and social strata. 

If we establish a comparison between the five criteria presented by level of programs of study and income, we can see some notable trends. 

Regarding the level of educational, the data determines that the higher the Degree of training of the participants, the greater the importance they attach to the criteria of trust in the media. Those who have completed a Degree or postgraduate program consider media transparency (84%), fair representation of citizens (74%) and the presence of journalistic standards (74%) to be "important" or "very important". This patron saint is maintained in those with higher programs of study . In comparison with the rest of the levels, the latter place more emphasis on the media's journey (62%) and on the concordance of values (67%). It should be noted that the lower the level educational of the respondents, the demand for high journalistic quality decreases. 

When evaluating the level of income, we observe that the importance given by the Spanish audience to the five criteria is higher among high-income individuals. This factor can be explained by aspects such as payment and media subscriptions. For this reason, 85% of people with high purchasing power point to transparency as the main trust factor. This is also reflected in the rest of the social strata (middle or low income). It should be noted that middle-income people attach high importance to fair citizen representation by the media (72%). As with the level educational, the demand for journalistic quality decreases among income participants leave. 

If we evaluate the credibility criteria according to the frequency of news consumption, we can establish comparisons from highest to lowest Degree of involvement. As we can see in the graph, those who opt for high consumption (several times a day) show interest in the five highlighted criteria with percentages exceeding 60% in each case. Once again, transparency (78%) and fair representation of citizens (72%) reaffirm the audience's commitment. On the other hand, a daily and scheduled consumption of news (once a day) reflects a similar trend as the audience more committed to information. It should be noted that the most leave figure is attributed to the presence of high journalistic standards on the part of the media (59%). Finally, weekly news consumption presents a different trend than daily consumption. Although transparency continues to be the dominant criterion, the second most valued aspect by occasional news consumers is the presence of high journalistic standards (66%). In the face of this, the trajectory of the medium loses interest (53%). Therefore, professional indicators are relevant for those who selectively access news. 

 
As for the level of interest in information, a decreasing trend is observed in the five criteria analyzed. Thus, a low interest in information decreases the audience's attention to the credibility criteria. Transparency maintains high standards, even among those who have little or no interest in news (59%). 

Voters on the left and right share demand for transparency and alignment of values in media to foster trust in reporting

When studying the criteria to which greater importance is attributed, it is of interest to understand how the relationship is within the political ideology of the participants. As can be seen in the graph, transparency is the dominant criterion for voters of all political positions (left, right and center). The demand for values aligned with the audience is an aspect that also stands out among right-wing and left-wing voters (69% in each case). In the center positions, this data is presented with a decrease of nine percentage points.

With regard to the representation of people who agree with the audience, there is an upward trend in the political right (75%) compared to 71% in the left-wing and democratic center ideology. 

In the rest of the criteria, we observe slight variations. However, we can highlight as significant data that the informative bias is a determining factor for 53% of the audience of the political left (four percentage points above the right and two above those of the center). Likewise, participants on the right of the political spectrum and center attribute more relevance to the trajectory of the media (65%) than the left (60%). As we have seen, trust criteria and ideological inclinations exert a significant influence in the Spanish context.