The Reuters Digital News Report 2026 does not disappoint. It explores AI chatbots, changing search habits, declining referral traffic and the growing influence of platforms on news consumption.

Yet when I finished reading it, I found myself thinking more about trust. Here are five takeaways for African media leaders.

1. Trust in news is still relatively high in the African continent

More specifically, what the report reveals about trust in African media.

Globally, trust in news has fallen to its lowest level since Reuters began measuring it in 2015. Just 37% of people across the surveyed markets say they trust most news most of the time. But Kenya and Nigeria remain among the higher-trust markets in the study. Kenya even recorded a small increase while Nigeria remained stable. By contrast, many countries experienced substantial declines, including South Africa (-5 points), the United States (-5), the UK (-5), Ireland (-9), the Philippines (-10), and Poland (-8).

South Africa was one of the countries where trust fell significantly this year, reminding us that trust should never be taken for granted.

At a time when much of the global conversation is about declining trust in news, Kenya and Nigeria continue to perform relatively well. That suggests African media still benefits from an important reserve of trust.

The challenge now may not be rebuilding trust, but preserving it. Because once trust is lost, it is far harder to regain than it is to protect.

2. Kenya and Nigeria are the most worried about misinformation

But buried within the report is a different story.

Audiences in both countries are also among the most concerned about misinformation online. In other words, trust in journalism appears to be holding up even as trust in the wider information environment comes under increasing strain.

Reuters found that concerns about distinguishing what is real and fake online are highest in Nigeria and Kenya, ahead of countries such as the UK, Australia, and Portugal.

This could mean people still trust journalism more than many audiences elsewhere, but they trust the wider information environment much less.

This creates an opportunity for journalism, as the more chaotic the information ecosystem becomes, the more valuable verification, context, and trusted reporting become.

To me, that confirms that journalism is still essential to these audiences, perhaps more than we sometimes realise.

3. Africa is at the forefront of platformisation

The dominant theme of the entire report is what Reuters calls the "platformisation" of news consumption.

Social media and video platforms have now overtaken news websites globally as the main way in which people get their news.

The Africa data points seem to reinforce this trend.

Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa appear among countries with high social and video news consumption. Reuters also specifically notes that the African samples were included in these platform comparisons.

For African newsrooms, the implications are profound because audience relationships are increasingly occurring on platforms that publishers do not own or control. The big question, then, becomes: who owns the relationship with the audience?

For decades, publishers controlled much of that relationship. If someone bought your newspaper, listened to your radio station, watched your bulletin, or visited your website, you had a direct connection with them.

You knew what they consumed, how often they returned, what interested them, and how to even monetise that relationship. Today, many audiences encounter journalism through Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google Discover, or increasingly AI tools.

That means - the platforms control the discovery - your audience may see your story because an algorithm surfaced it, not because they chose to come to you. Many people remember the content and the platform e.g TikTok but not the publisher - which has implications for loyalty, and in the long term trust. It’s the same when it comes to monetisation. The newsroom carries the cost of journalism while platforms often capture a significant share of the economic benefit.

4. Africa is losing "news lovers" too

One of the most underreported findings in the report is the decline in highly engaged news consumers- what Reuters calls "news lovers" and an increase in more casual news users.

In other words, fewer people are actively seeking news, and more people are encountering it incidentally.

That trend is visible globally and increasingly evident in Africa too.

For decades, journalism benefited from habit- when audiences organised their lives around news e.g tuning into the morning news, buying newspapers, watching the evening news or even visiting a news website directly. But those habits are weakening as attention is more fragmented.

If more audiences are encountering their news in their feeds, the challenge for newsrooms goes beyond producing great journalism to remaining relevant.

Remember what happens on your feed? You’re competing with entertainment, creators, influencers, memes, and increasingly AI-generated content. So how can your journalism compete for the same attention?

5. Audiences still value impartial journalism

This is one of the report's most important findings globally, and I think it has particular relevance for African media.

Despite polarisation and the rise of creators, 45% of respondents still prefer news that does not take sides, while only a minority prefer news that shares their point of view.

This challenges a common assumption that audiences only want partisan or activist journalism.

Reuters' data suggest that while people may be frustrated with journalism, they have not abandoned the idea of impartial journalism.

The Enduring Value of Trust

Reading the report, I was left thinking less about technology and more about trust, relevance and audience relationships.

It provides more evidence that as technology and AI continue to evolve, platforms will continue to shape how people discover information. But trust is what will continue to remain one of journalism's most valuable assets.