What is the goal of the Digital News Report Spain?
The goal project News Report Spain 2026 project is to describe and analyze how information is consumed in a variety of countries. The research conducted by YouGov through an survey carried out in January and February 2026.
How many surveys are conducted in Spain and is it representative of the country?
In Spain, the survey based on 2,008 panel surveys of people over the age of 18, representative of a total population of 49 million people. The Internet penetration rate at the time of the survey 97% of the total population.
More generally, online samples tend to underrepresent the news consumption habits of older people and those with lower incomes, which means that online usage may be slightly overrepresented and traditional offline usage underrepresented. However, in Spain, internet penetration exceeds 97%, and therefore the differences between theonlinepopulationandthe national population will be small.
The use of a non-probability sampling approach means that it is not possible to calculate a conventional 'margin of error' for individual data points. However, differences of +/- 2 percentage points (pp) or less are very unlikely to be statistically significant and should be interpreted with a high Degree of caution. We generally do not consider differences of +/- 2pp as significant, and as a general rule, we do not refer to them in the text. The same applies to small changes over time.
Do the results reflect the actual behavior or attitudes of the respondents?
Surveys reflectpeople’sself-reported behavior, which does not always reflect their actual behavior due to biases and imperfect recall. They are useful for gauging people’s opinions, but these opinions are subjective, and the aggregate results reflect public opinion rather than objective reality. Even with sample large sample sizes, it is not possible to analyze many minority groups in a meaningful way. Some of our survey-based results may not align with data , which is often based on different methodologies.
How reliable are the responses on trust in the selected journalistic brands?
Trust is necessarily subjective and depends on individual perception, so it is important to note that it is not always a meaningful indicator of whether a media outlet is reliable, accurate, impartial, or of high quality. Brand trust scores are just one of the metrics we analyze in theDigital News Report Spain. Each year, we ask several additional questions about trust in the news in general and in the news that respondents consume.
How representative is this survey in Spain? Who does it represent?
As in the other 47 countries participating in the project, survey Digital News Report Spain survey is based on survey , but the methodology selects participants so that they are as representative as possible of the national populations. Samples are drawn using quotas representative of age, gender, and region in each country, and the data weighted according to targets derived from census or data . In addition, additional educational quotas were applied in all countries. In Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Norway, the United States, and the United Kingdom, we also applied political quotas based on voting patterns in the most recent national elections.
In general terms, online samples tend to underrepresent the information habits of older and less affluent people, which implies that the use of digital media tends to be overrepresented and the use of traditional media underrepresented.
What do brand confidence scores mean?
We asked each respondent to rate a set of popular brands (15 in each country) on how trustworthy they felt their news content was. We use a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means the brand is not at all trustworthy, 10 means it is completely trustworthy and 5 means it is neutral ("neither trustworthy nor untrustworthy"). There is also an option for those who do not know a brand, so only responses from sufficiently informed people are used.
As we explain in the report, even alongside the tables presenting the results by brand, the evaluation of whether a brand is trustworthy or not depends on the subjective judgment of the respondents, and the scores represent an aggregate of public opinion, not an objective assessment of its trustworthiness. We believe that everyone can - and is entitled to - form an opinion about whether or not they trust a brand, and we pose this question because the resulting data is important, even if it may be uncomfortable for some.
When presenting the results, we added up the percentage of respondents who gave a score 6 and 10 and classified this as“trust.” We also added up those who scored between 0 and 4 and categorized this as“distrust.” Below, we present the 15 brands ranked by the percentage that inspires trust, although we also show the levels of distrust.
For clarity, the question asked is:
To what extent do you consider news about the following brands to be reliable? Use the following scale, where 0 means "not at all reliable" and 10 means "totally reliable".
How are these data presented in the report?
We present the data in a stacked bar chart, from most to least trustworthy. We expressly warn that the ranking should not be considered a list of media credibility in Spain. When the difference between brands is around two percentage points or less, we cannot say with certainty that one brand is more trustworthy than another. In surveys with a sample of about 2,000 people, we usually need a difference of at least three points to be considered significant.
In addition, due to the limitation of the length of the questionnaire, we only asked about 15 of the most commonly used brands. It is very likely that there are brands with higher or lower confidence levels that are not included. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that any brand is the most or least trusted. Next to each graph we point out the following:
How do you choose the brands you are inquiring about?
The selection of brands is a sample , non-exhaustive sample . In October 2024, we will compile the list of brands that will be included in the following survey . To do this, we analyze the results from Spain’s leading media consumption measurement systems (GFK, Estudio General de Medios, OJD, among others), as well as data previous editions ofthe Digital News Report Spain, in order to identify the most widely used brands: in traditional and digital media, national and local, general-interest and specialized, across radio, print, and television, as well as native digital media. We also strive to include generic terms such as “local press” or “local television,” acknowledging their importance, although we cannot ask about every specific brand due to the survey length. As a general rule, brands that did not achieve a reach of at least 3% in the report are excluded from the list.
How is it possible that some of the most widely used brands have low levels of trust?
Our research sample that people use news brands for a variety of reasons beyond their political or public interest content, which typically influences trust ratings. Some popular media include entertainment or lifestyle content, which can increase usage. Other times, a brand is widely used because of its high level of recognition. Usage and trust are not necessarily correlated. We also find that brands with longer histories tend to generate more trust than those of more recent creation. It takes time to consolidate that reputation for trustworthiness in the public's perception.
How are the results contextualized to avoid misinterpretation of confidence levels?
Although these results may make certain brands uncomfortable, the Reuters Institute and the authors ofthe Digital News Report Spainbelieve it is important to provide comparative data, both over time and across countries. Trust is just one of the many variables we monitor, along with consumption of different sources, device usage, social media, and so on. We maintain consistent measurement criteria each year so that the results can be interpreted in context.
A more complete description of the methodology, panel partners and a discussion of non-probability sampling techniques can be found on our website along with the full questionnaire at reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk.
