Notícias
News consumption continues to evolve, and understanding these changes is becoming increasingly important for communications professionals.
The 2026 edition of the Digital News Report Portugal, part of the Digital News Report created by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism across a range of markets, is produced in Portugal in partnership with OberCom – Observatório da Comunicação. The study provides an in-depth overview of news consumption habits in Portugal, identifying trends that help explain the relationship between citizens, media outlets and digital platforms.
To explore some of the key findings from this year’s edition in greater depth, we invited Ana Pinto Martinho, a researcher at OberCom and a member of the team responsible for the Digital News Report Portugal 2026, to answer a few questions about the study’s findings and what they mean for the communications sector.
The 2026 Digital News Report shows that we are at an interesting point of transition, with television still playing a central role, digital continuing to gain ground, and the use of AI chatbots beginning to emerge. It is worth highlighting that TV remains the preferred source of news for Portuguese audiences, with 71% using it to access news, the highest level of use among the 48 markets analysed. Clearly, we are not ready to say goodbye to the big screen just yet.
But new trends are emerging. Artificial intelligence is quietly making its way into people’s news habits, with these tools being used mainly to read news summaries or assess whether a source is trustworthy. Its use is still relatively limited, but it is becoming increasingly noticeable.
Among younger audiences, the shift is more significant. For those aged between 18 and 24, following a content creator or influencer is already, for many, a legitimate way of staying informed. Another striking finding is that Portuguese people are becoming increasingly sceptical about what they read online. Some 76% say they are concerned about fake news, a figure above the global average.
Finally, social media has become the main gateway to online news, ahead of search engines such as Google and even going directly to a newspaper’s website. Increasingly, the algorithm is becoming the new “editor”.
I would say the most critical development is the structural erosion of Portuguese people’s relationship with the news system, which is visible across three indicators. The first is the decline in trust: overall trust in news fell from 66% in 2015 to 51% in 2026, the lowest level of the decade. The second is the decline in interest in news. High levels of interest in news dropped from around 70% between 2015 and 2018 to just 50% in 2026. The third is the consolidation of active news avoidance. The proportion of people who deliberately avoid the news has stabilised at a high level (37%), almost double the 22% recorded in 2017.
I would say Portugal’s main distinguishing feature in the international context is the exceptional centrality of television. Portugal is the market where television plays the greatest role in news access (71%) and where it is most frequently identified as the main source of information (59%) among all 48 countries studied. While other markets show greater fragmentation, news consumption habits in Portugal remain strongly anchored in television. In addition, Portugal continues to stand out positively in Southern Europe in terms of trust in news, remaining significantly above the global average, with figures much closer to those seen in Northern European countries.
It is a somewhat complex question, but I would say that communications directors can use the report’s data to support more strategic decision-making. I can give a few examples: adopting differentiated generational segmentation based on the report’s findings; understanding the need to adapt content in response to emerging trends; and, finally, addressing news fatigue. Given the high level of active news avoidance driven by fatigue or emotional impact, brands should invest in formats that provide greater utility and less noise, focusing on relevance and usability — attributes that are highly valued among emerging digital intermediaries.
