HUNGARY: Trust in news at record low in Hungary

According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026, Hungary has the lowest trust in the media out of the 48 countries surveyed.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, June 16, 2026 / EINPresswire.com / -- CEU Democracy Institute – According to the newly published Digital News Report 2026 by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism , trust in news has continued to decline in Hungary. Only 17 percent of Hungarian respondents said they generally trust the news, a 5 percentage point drop

compared to the previous year. This is the lowest figure in Hungary since 2016 and the lowest among the 48 countries included in the study. The global average, on the other hand, is 37 percent. The

Hungarian chapter of the report was prepared by Judit Szakács, a researcher at the CEU Democracy Institute .

According to the research, independent news brands continue to enjoy the highest trust. Among the media outlets surveyed, RTL has the highest trust index (49%), followed by HVG (44%), Telex (41%), and 24.hu and 444.hu (both 38%).

In contrast, the lowest trust indices among the brands surveyed were received by several media outlets close to the Fidesz government. According to the research, 21 percent of respondents have trust in MTV, while 56 percent of them specifically do not trust it. TV2 (21%), Origo (21%), Magyar Nemzet (22%) and HírTV (23%) show similarly low trust values.

According to the report, the Index's trust index is 26 percent, while 44 percent of respondents stated that they do not trust the portal.


Trust in several news brands close to the Fidesz government has further decreased

According to the research, trust in several media outlets close to the Fidesz government has also further decreased in the past year. Origo's trust index fell from 25 percent to 21 percent, while trust in MTV and TV2 both decreased from 23 percent to 21 percent. Magyar Nemzet's trust index decreased from 25 percent to 22 percent, and HírTV's from 26 percent to 23 percent.

The deterioration in the perception of public media is indicated by the fact that the proportion of those who do not trust MTV increased from 53 percent to 56 percent in one year.

The report also shows a significant decline in the case of Index: the portal's trust index decreased from 31 percent to 26 percent, or 5 percentage points between 2025 and 2026.


Social media plays an increasingly important role

The Reuters Institute research also shows that the role of online and social platforms in news consumption is further strengthened. In Hungary, 83 percent of respondents use online news sources on a weekly basis.

The rise of social media is particularly significant: while in 2025, 54 percent of respondents used social media to consume news, in 2026 this proportion increased to 62 percent.

According to the authors of the research, the Hungarian media environment was significantly determined last year by the 2026 parliamentary election campaign, in which political actors made intensive use of both social media platforms and AI-based communication tools.


About the report

The Digital News Report is an annual international study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism that examines news consumption habits, trust in the media and the use of digital media worldwide. The 2026 report is based on data from 48 countries.

The author of the Hungarian chapter is Judit Szakács, a staff member of the CEU Democracy Institute.

The full report and the Hungarian chapter are available on the Reuters Institute website.