News media most trusted by French consumers in France 2020

In 2020, regional and local newspapers were the most trusted news media according to French consumers. Respondents considered public media such as France Info and France Télévisions News trustworthy, while BFM TV News was the most distrusted news media of the list.

The press – a trustworthy information source

The press, as a so-called traditional media, enjoys greater consumer confidence than other newer media. Although the shift to digital favors digital press over print media, nearly a third of French people say they read the press on a regular basis. This regular and loyal readership overwhelmingly trusts what they read in newspapers and magazines, although some are still convinced that journalists distort events.

Fake news

While fake news are becoming an increasingly important political and societal issue, social media in particular suffer from a bad reputation due to the publication and mass sharing of erroneous information. These fake news are commonplace, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the true from the false before sharing information with followers. However, a majority of informed consumers always claim to double check the source and truthfulness of the information by crossing information sources.