Prime Minister Christopher Luxon addresses reporters at Parliament. Trust in the news media is showing signs of stabilisation after years of decline. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon addresses reporters at Parliament. Trust in the news media is showing signs of stabilisation after years of decline. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Who are the most trusted news media organisations in New Zealand? A new survey suggests trust in news outlets is stabilising but it is still low by international standards. The full report and how media can rebuild trust.
Trust in the news media is showing signsof stabilisation after years of steep decline, according to AUT’s annual survey, with individual outlets all recording improvements in trust levels in the past 12 months.
But trust levels in media are still low overall in New Zealand compared with other countries, with 32% of the 1058 survey respondents saying they trusted the news in general, compared with 33% in 2024. The score in early 2020, pre-Covid, was 53%.
It’s happier news for individual outlets, however, with all of those measured, including the NZ Herald, Stuff, RNZ, TVNZ and Newstalk ZB, improving on their 2024 results.
RNZ has taken back the top spot in this year’s survey as the country’s most trusted news media outlet, with respondents giving it an average score of six out of 10 (0 being “not at all trustworthy”, 10 being “completely trustworthy”).
It is followed by last year’s top outlet, the Otago Daily Times (5.9), and then, in third-equal place, the National Business Review and TVNZ (5.6).
Seven outlets (NZ Herald, BusinessDesk, interest.co.nz, Newsroom, Stuff, The Listener and Three News) are next, each with an average score of 5.5.
Another six outlets (including “other commercial radio stations” all pooled as one) follow them.
The average trust score internationally – those who generally trust the media – is 40% so, at 32%, New Zealand’s media industry still has much to rebuild. (In this year’s survey, 45% of respondents trusted the news they consumed themselves - a score unchanged from 2024).
“In 2025, general trust in news in New Zealand fell to the same level as in the United States (32%), but fell below the United Kingdom which gained in trust (36%),” says the AUT survey. “Internationally, trust in news was highest in Finland (69%) and lowest in Greece and Hungary (both 23%).”
The survey said 69% of New Zealanders were interested or extremely interested in news – a high number by international standards – and yet the numbers of Kiwis who said they were actively avoiding the news was also high, at 73%.
AUT survey authors Dr Merja Myllylahti and Dr Greg Treadwell said survey respondents were questioned on the reasons they did not trust, or avoided, the news.
They said clear themes had emerged.
“Most prevalent of these was they felt ‘overwhelmed by the news these days’ and felt it necessary to disengage from it for their mental health,” says the survey.
“Many cited the overwhelmingly negative tone of news – constant bad news, fear-based content, and sensationalism – as reasons for their avoidance.”
One respondent was quoted in the survey as saying: “There’s far too much news about American politics and about Palestine, which is depressing.”
And another: “I try to Trumptox as much as is possible – I find the man utterly exhausting and devoid of a soul – very disturbing energy. He’s hard to escape currently – so I find myself go [sic] near news generally less and less to avoid the creep.”
There were also “perceptions of bias and spin”, according to the survey.
“While feelings of being overwhelmed by news dominate reasons for news avoidance, a lack of trust in the news was also a reason for avoiding it.
“Another clear theme was perceptions of political bias in agenda setting and news reporting among news organisations. Also among reasons for avoiding news were perceptions of opinion masquerading as news.”
One respondent is quoted as saying: “Most of it is anti-Government; negative and left-leaning bias.”
Another said: “Too much right-wing propaganda.”
As well as concerns about political bias, respondents also raised issues such as blurred lines between fact and opinion, and “sensationalism and clickbait”.
AI and news
Some 60% of respondents said they were uncomfortable with news “mainly produced by artificial intelligence (AI) but with some human oversight”. Only 8% were comfortable.
“When we asked how comfortable people are with news that is produced mainly by human journalists with AI assistance, 26% of people were comfortable and 35% [were] uncomfortable with the mode of production,” says the survey.
New Zealanders listed transparency and openness as the most important aspect of trust in news brands, said Myllylahti. As newsrooms increasingly used AI, they should be “fully open” about the use of these tools, she said.
Paying for news
The NZ Herald has a monthly unique audience of more than two million people.
The survey said about 27% of respondents had paid for a digital subscription or digital/print bundle to access online news content in 2025.
“Approximately 22% of respondents said they had supported the NZ Herald financially, but support for other news brands was significantly lower.
“Roughly 9% had supported Stuff, 6% had supported The Spinoff, 6% The Post, 6% the Otago Daily Times, 5% The Press and 4% Newsroom. A large number of respondents, 59%, said they had not supported any of the Aotearoa New Zealand news brands listed in our survey, while 10% had supported ‘other’ publications.”
The top three news sources for respondents in this survey were Stuff (66%), TVNZ (62%) and NZ Herald (60%). These were followed by Facebook (58%), YouTube (43%) and RNZ (42%).
But the trust levels for news on social media were much lower.
Trust levels of news outlets v social media platfiorms. Source: AUT Trust in News 2025 survey
Industry reaction
Herald editor-in-chief Murray Kirkness said NZME recognised the importance of trust.
“We pride ourselves on producing quality, trusted journalism,” Kirkness said. “I believe the size of NZME’s audiences – more than 3.5 million Kiwis turn to our digital, radio and print platforms each month – reflect that Kiwis have faith in our journalism and content.
NZME editor-in-chief Murray Kirkness. Photo / Michael Craig
“I note the Herald is rated New Zealand’s most politically balanced media outlet. We are proud to offer many and varied views across our various platforms and will continue to be a broad church when it comes to news coverage, analysis and opinion.
“That said, we continue to work hard to raise levels of trust and have introduced a range of initiatives – such as more clearly labelling opinion articles – over the past 12 months as we look to prioritise our relationship with audiences.”
The full report
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
