General News

69% of Japanese Public Trusts the Media, Says Survey; Trust Highest in Older Generations

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Copies of a Yomiuri Shimbun special edition are distributed to people in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, June 11, 2025

Sixty-nine percent of people trust the media, including newspapers and TV news programs, according to a recent nationwide survey, the results of which were released Tuesday by the SmartNews Media Research Institute.

The percentage was almost unchanged from 68% in the previous survey in March 2023. The institute conducts the survey to analyze media usage in Japan and the public’s thoughts on politics. The latest survey was conducted from January to March via mail.

When asked whether they trusted the mass media to report thoroughly, accurately and fairly, 9% of respondents said they had strong trust in the media to do so, and 60% said they had some trust.

Those who said they did not trust the media much or at all totaled 31%, almost unchanged from 30% in the previous survey.

Among those age 60 or older, 83% said they trusted the media. That was down to 69% among those age 40 to 59 and 54% among those age 18 to 39, but all age groups were above 50%.

“An increasing number of people, especially in the younger generations, are interacting more with convenient online content, but many of these people have not been affected by the criticisms of traditional media that are seen on social media,” said Prof. Kenichi Ikeda of Doshisha University, an expert on political psychology who analyzed the survey results. “There hasn’t been a loss of trust in the fairness of the system.”

Asked how they most often checked news about politics and elections, 46% of respondents said TV news programs, 18% said news websites or apps, 16% said print media such as newspapers and magazines, and 11% said social media, including video-sharing websites such as YouTube.

The survey is conducted once every two years by a study group made up mainly of the institute and survey experts. The latest survey was the second to be performed. A total of 4,460 men and women age 18 to 79 across the nation were queried from January to March this year, and 2,117, or 47%, responded.