The Digital News Report Nederland 2021 has revealed that in 2020 - a year dominated by coronavirus - the Netherlands' trust in the Dutch media rose from 52 to 59 percent.

The Netherlands' interest in the news peaked in March

The Dutch Media Authority’s report looks into how the people of the Netherlands consume their news, and which sources are the most popular. Taking the significant influence of the coronavirus pandemic into account, this year’s report also looked at the impact of COVID-19 on news and the public’s interest in current affairs and politics. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the report reveals that national interest in news and politics rose as a result of the pandemic. In 2020, the number of people who checked the news at least six times a day rose from 16 percent to 20 percent, and interest in the news grew between February and March. The number of people who accessed online news in March 2020 rose to 33 percent, compared to 26 percent in January and February. Interest peaked again in October and November.

The most recent report found that 64 percent of people are either exceptionally or very interested in news, compared to 58 percent a year earlier. Research also found that people in the Netherlands watched a lot more TV in 2020, especially during the lockdown in the spring. Online media and TV are the two most popular sources of news and information in the Netherlands, and the number of people paying for online news rose in the last year from 11 percent to 17 percent.

Growing confidence in Dutch news media

While a global trend showed an overall decrease in the general public’s confidence in news, data from the Netherlands painted a very different picture. According to the report, 59 percent of people in the Netherlands have (great) trust in the news. 

The group with the least confidence in the media are people aged between 18 and 24 years old, meanwhile, those aged 55 and above have the most faith. Journalists and mainstream news organisations were cited as unreliable by only seven percent of people.

The number of people who trust social media as a news source has fallen from 38 percent to 42 percent. The age group with the most faith in social media are the 18 to 24-year-olds. Research found that 40 percent of people involved in the study reported encountering false or misleading information about coronavirus online in the past week.

For more information, read the Digital News Report here.