Irish people continue to trust major news brands but are losing trust in news more generally, according to a new report.The annual Digital News Report Ireland 2026, published by Coimisiún na Meán, shows 42 per cent of Irish people trust most news most of the time, but the figure is down from 51 per cent last year.Despite the decline in trust in news, Irish people continue to trust major news brands. RTÉ News and local radio news emerges as the most trusted brands, as 71 per cent of people cited these are trustworthy sources of news.They are followed closely by local newspapers (69 per cent), The Irish Times (69 per cent) and the Irish Independent (68 per cent).Trust in news is lowest among the 18-24-year-old age demographic at 33 per cent, while it is highest among those aged over 65 at 52 per cent.Trust in news in Ireland remains relatively high compared to the UK where the figure is 31 per cent, as well as the US where the figure stands at 26 per cent, and the European average of 36 per cent.An increase in news avoidance has emerged as another key trend in this year’s report and is at its highest ever recorded rate. Almost half of people said they actively try to avoid news, up from 41 per cent last year.Research for the report was undertaken by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford and analysis of the Irish data was provided by the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society.Fifty four per cent of Irish people said they are “extremely or very interested” in news, down from 70 per cent in the Covid-era of 2021. The rate was 48 per cent in the US; 37 per cent in the UK; while the European average was 44 per cent.Separately, when considering news sources, 51 per cent said they can trust the news they personally consume. Forty two per cent trust “most news”, while 31 per cent trust news from search engines.Sixteen per cent of people said they trust news from social media, while 14 per cent trust news from AI chatbots.When asked if news provided by public service broadcasters has a positive or negative effect on life in the country, 42 per cent of Irish respondents said it has a positive effect, while just 20 per cent said it had a negative effect.The report shows 22 per cent of people in Ireland are now paying for news, up from 9 per cent 10 years ago.When asked why they paid for online news, 39 per cent said they do so to get useful content they cannot access any other way, while 38 per cent said it was to support journalism because they think it is important to society.When asked which, if any, social media platform they use for finding, reading, watching, sharing or discussing news, Facebook was cited by 33 per cent, followed by WhatsApp at 27 per cent, YouTube at 26 per cent, Instagram with 23 per cent, TikTok at 15 per cent and X at 11 per cent.Seven in 10 people said they are concerned about what is real and what is fake online, which was an increase from 68 per cent last year.