A healthy democracy requires well-informed citizens. Although young people have traditionally shown less interest in consuming news than the rest of the Spanish population, some recent research reveals a worrying increase in the intergenerational information gap.
In general, and according to data from the Digital News Report Spain 2026 prepared by researchers at the University of Navarra, Spaniards consult the news less frequently than seven years ago. If in 2019 nine out of ten Spaniards were informed once a day, in 2026 eight out of ten will do so.
Among those under 25 years of age, the decline has been much more pronounced, going from 77% in 2019 to 54% in 2026. At the other extreme, 7% of young people claim to never be informed, approximately double that of the rest of the population.
Reversing this trend seems complicated if we stick to two main drivers for being informed: interest and trust in the news. Regarding the first, 54% of Spaniards are very interested in information compared to 33% of young people between 18 and 24 years old. The intergenerational distance has gone from 13 points in 2019 to 21 points in 2026.
The trust data are not very encouraging either: only 25% of young people regularly trust the news, eight points less than the Spanish population as a whole (33%). The combination of little interest and little trust allows us to identify a particularly significant group, the “information NEETs”, citizens who show neither interest nor trust in the information. In Spain it represents 35% of the population, but among those under 25 years of age it reaches 53%.
The paradox is that this occurs at a time when the supply of content is practically unlimited and accompanies young people wherever they spend a good part of their time. Social networks, video platforms, search engines, mobile applications and, more recently, artificial intelligence chatbots coexist today with television, radio and print and digital media.
The explanation for this paradox lies partly in the transformation of the main access routes to news. Social networks are the most obvious example: 59% of those under 25 years of age use them to stay informed (12 points more than the population as a whole) and 47% consider them their main source of news (23 points more). Television practically shows the inverse relationship: it continues to be the main source for 41% of Spaniards, but only for 23% of young people.
All of this reflects not only the change from one device to another, but also the generational transformation of the information consumption model. Before, citizens looked for news and now it comes to them while doing other things.
And here appears another of the most interesting contradictions: young people resort to networks but do not trust them. Only 15% of those under 25 years of age say they trust the news they find on social networks. More than half, 55%, distrust them. This apparent incoherence helps to understand one of the most profound changes in the current information ecosystem: trust no longer alone determines which source or information medium is used. The choice also depends on convenience, immediacy, who presents the news to us and how it captures our attention.
Therein lies one of the great challenges for traditional media. Its main competitor is not a source that young people consider more reliable, but simply someone who appears earlier and fits better with their way of consuming content: content creators or influencers. 36% of young people use them to be informed compared to 23% of the total population.
What is its main attraction compared to traditional media? The majority perceive them to be more entertaining (69%), close (61%), understandable (54%) and authentic (39%). They are attributes that do not strictly have to do with the journalistic quality of the information, but rather with connecting with people.
However, the media continue to retain an advantage in strictly informative attributes, such as reliability, knowledge or impartiality. Therefore, they can continue to be considered more credible and rigorous and, at the same time, stop occupying the center of the youth information diet. That is probably one of the great challenges for journalism. Credibility continues to be essential, but it is no longer enough to guarantee relevance or consumption.
The media competes in an ecosystem where people do not choose solely based on who offers the most reliable information. They also compete for attention, closeness, clarity, entertainment, personality and the ability to integrate naturally into digital routines.
That does not mean that journalism should become an entertainment product or imitate influencers. Nor should you sacrifice rigor to get clicks or views. It means you can't assume that credibility or rigor alone guarantees an audience.
The issue is no longer just about getting young people back into the media. First, we will have to understand why they have moved away, what they expect when they seek information, why certain voices manage to capture their attention and how journalism can transfer to new environments what continues to constitute its main advantage: offering reliable, contrasted and relevant information to understand the world.
