Trust in Belgian media has fallen to record lows as the psychological impact of global crises coupled with the ongoing effects of social media appear to have led Belgians to lose faith in traditional news sources.
According to the annual Digital News Report, published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism on Wednesday, only 44% of Belgians "trust most news most of the time" – a decline of 7 percentage points in a year and the lowest proportion since the study first assessed Belgians' level of media trust in 2016.
Astonishingly, the study noted that barely half of Belgians have confidence in the media source that they themselves use: only 51% said that they "trust the news I use". Intriguingly, Dutch-speaking Belgians consider their news far more trustworthy (51%) than their French-speaking compatriots (36%).
The decline in media trust is by no means confined to Belgium. Globally, confidence in the news fell to 40% this year (-2%). Trust in news sources which people themselves regularly consume fell 46% (also down 2%).
Who's to blame?
Speaking to De Tijd, the study's co-ordinator Ike Picone (Associate Professor of Media and Journalism Studies at the VUB) suggested that the decline in media trust is largely a consequence of social media which spreads – and often amplifies – criticism of mainstream news sources.
"Those who consult news via social media have notably less confidence," Picone said. "[Social media] is also where people see the most criticism of journalism."
Picone explained that many social media has broadened the concept of "news": no longer just the product of traditional media, social media places this content beside updates from friends and family, their favourite brands, celebrities, and influencers. "There is a lot coming at them and that can create a sense of unease which undermines trust in news."
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But although frequent social media use can damage the credibility of news, it doesn't fully explain the sudden plunge in media confidence.
The study itself notes that 43% of Belgians get their news from social media – only 1% more than in 2022. At the same time, fewer people actually get their news online (including via social media) – whereas in 2022 77% of people consumed news online, this fell to 76% in 2023. This does little to explain the past year's 7% drop in media trust.
As a possible explanation, Picone posits that the steep decline reflects a general loss of public confidence in policymakers and pundits as a result of Europe's faltering economy and the war in Ukraine: "Faith in democratic institutions is decreasing and the news is also part of that."
In a similar vein, the study found that Germany also saw a 7 percentage point decline in media trust over the past year. The study attributes this to "a new government, concerns about energy security, and the war in Ukraine".
