Pew: Confidence In Local And National News Rises.

Americans’ confidence in local news organizations continues to exceed their trust in national news outlets, with both categories recording gains over the past year, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

The survey, conducted Sept. 14-20 among 5,193 U.S. adults, found that 75% of Americans have at least some trust in information from local news organizations vs. 62% who expressed similar confidence in national news organizations.

Trust in local news increased five percentage points from September 2025, while confidence in national news rose six points. Despite the improvement, trust in both categories remains below levels recorded a decade ago.

The findings underscore the continuing advantage local news organizations hold over their national counterparts when it comes to public confidence. The 13-percentage-point gap between the two categories represents a substantial difference in how Americans evaluate information from news providers.

The survey did not break down trust by individual media platforms. Consequently, its findings do not establish whether local radio broadcasters enjoy greater confidence than national radio networks. However, prior research has shown the strength of local radio news.

In the Pew survey, the advantage for local news was evident among supporters of both major political parties. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 69% expressed at least some trust in local news organizations vs. 50% for national news outlets. That represented a five-point increase in confidence in local news and a six-point improvement for national news from the previous year.

Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents also demonstrated greater confidence in local news. Eighty-one percent said they trusted information from local organizations vs. 73% for national news. Both figures increased from 2025, when the respective percentages were 78% and 69%.

The findings suggest local news maintains a trust advantage across the political spectrum, although Democrats remain more likely than Republicans to express confidence in both local and national news organizations.

Age also played a role in the results. Among Americans 65 and older, 81% expressed at least some trust in local news, up from 76% in 2025. Among adults 18 to 29, confidence in local news increased from 65% to 72%.

Older Americans were also more likely to trust national news organizations, with 70% expressing confidence vs. 60% of adults under 30.

Social media continued to trail traditional news organizations as a trusted information source. Just 38% of Americans said they had at least some confidence in information obtained from social media sites, virtually unchanged from 37% a year earlier.

That figure was considerably lower than the 75% confidence level for local news organizations and the 62% recorded for national outlets.

Pew noted that trust in national news organizations remains considerably below its 2016 level, when 76% of Americans expressed at least some confidence in those outlets. Local news has also experienced a longer-term decline, falling from 82% in 2016 to 75% in the latest survey.