Pew Research Center’s September 2026 survey found that 62% of U.S. adults had at least some trust in information from national news organizations, up 6 percentage points from September 2025 but still below the level a decade earlier. For local news organizations, 75% reported at least some trust, up 5 points from a year earlier and higher than the share for national news. Trust in information from social media sites was 38%, nearly unchanged from 37% in 2025.
Trust in national news rose among both major party groups: 50% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents reported at least some trust, up from 44% in 2025, while the share among Democrats and Democratic leaners rose from 69% to 73%. For local news, trust rose from 64% to 69% among Republicans and Republican leaners, and from 78% to 81% among Democrats and Democratic leaners. Trust in social-media information was similar across party groups, at 37% among Republicans and 40% among Democrats. Among Republicans, moderates and liberals were more likely than conservatives to trust national news, 57% versus 46%; Pew found no major ideological differences among Democrats or in either party’s trust in local news or social media.
National-news trust rose across most age groups: 60% of adults under 30 reported at least some trust, up from 51% in 2025, while the share among adults 65 and older rose from 62% to 70%. Local-news trust rose across all age groups. It reached 81% among adults 65 and older, up from 76%, and 72% among adults ages 18 to 29, up from 65%. Trust in social-media information varied by age: 52% of adults ages 18 to 29 reported at least some trust, compared with 25% of adults 65 and older. Younger adults were also more likely than older adults to use social media for news generally.
Party and age together showed further differences in national-news trust: 86% of Democrats 65 and older reported at least some trust, compared with 65% of Democrats ages 18 to 29. Among Republicans ages 18 to 29, the share was 54%, up 12 percentage points from 2025; trust also increased among older Republican age groups, making levels across Republican age groups more similar than a year earlier. The survey’s party-and-age breakdown reported trust in national news, local news and social-media information, respectively, at 54%, 70% and 47% among Republicans and Republican leaners ages 18 to 29; 46%, 65% and 44% among those ages 30 to 49; 50%, 72% and 34% among those ages 50 to 64; and 54%, 71% and 24% among those 65 and older.
Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, the corresponding figures were 65%, 74% and 55% for ages 18 to 29; 69%, 79% and 43% for ages 30 to 49; 77%, 83% and 33% for ages 50 to 64; and 86%, 90% and 26% for those 65 and older.
Pew surveyed 5,193 U.S. adults from Sept. 14 to 20, 2026; all participants were members of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The Center says its surveys represent the views of the full U.S. adult population. Pew has asked about trust in information from different sources since 2016, and says its analysis examines change over time and differences among groups. The Center cautions that question wording has changed over time. It also notes that the 2016 figure for trust in social-media information was based on internet users, rather than all U.S. adults.