Trust in news continues to slide globally, yet when elections arrive, audiences in Indonesia and Singapore behave differently. New evidence from both countries shows that even in a fragmented, creator-driven information ecosystem, voters still return to legacy media for credibility and reassurance.The latest Reuters Institute Digital News Report highlights a familiar trend: Social media and video platforms have, on average, overtaken news websites and apps across markets, while global trust in news has fallen to 37 percent, the lowest level since 2015.
A Eurobarometer survey across 27 EU states similarly found that two in three users seek political information on social media and more than one-third follow influencers.
These patterns raise a critical question: Do people rely on different information sources when the stakes are high? Studies conducted during the 2024 Indonesian presidential election and the 2025 Singapore general election suggest they do.
In Indonesia, a nationally representative two-wave panel survey found that television remained the most accessed source of election news, followed by WhatsApp and face-to-face conversations. YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram have grown rapidly, but they have not displaced TV’s central role. Print media has nearly vanished, with almost nine in 10 respondents saying they never accessed it.
