Since 2012, the Reuters Institute Digital News Report has conducted annual, representative surveys in 48 countries to examine general trends and national differences of news consumption. As a cooperation partner, the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut is responsible for the German sub-study. The 2026 findings are now available for download. Key thematic focuses in the 2026 survey wave included news influencers and the handling of original sources in news encountered through social media, search engines, and AI-generated responses.
Study available for download (PDF, in German only): Hölig, Sascha; Behre, Julia; Stöwing, Ezra; Möller, Judith (2026): Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026 – Ergebnisse für Deutschland [Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026 – Findings for Germany]. Hamburg: Verlag Hans-Bredow-Institut, June 2026 (Hans-Bredow-Institut Working Papers | Project Results No. 83), https://doi.org/10.21241/ssoar.110516
Coordinated by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, based in Oxford (UK), the study is conducted simultaneously in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Canada, Kenya, Colombia, Croatia, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Austria, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Hungary, and the United States. Approximately 2,000 people were surveyed in each country in 2026. In its 14th edition, the study is based on responses from nearly 100,000 participants from 48 countries across six continents
Fieldwork in Germany was conducted by the survey institute YouGov between January 9 and January 22, 2026, using online access panels to draw samples representative of internet users aged 18 and older in participating countries. “Representative” means that the sample reflects the structure of the internet-using population with regard to age, gender, region, and education, or is weighted accordingly. In interpreting the results, it should generally be taken into account that sampling through online access panels may somewhat overestimate internet affinity and social web usage. The standard error of the reported figures generally falls within a range of one to three percent.
The international English-language report is available at: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/