Radio tops 2025 election info trust as online forums lag: IPS

IPS data shows wide trust gap between legacy and participatory platforms

Radio stations and their associated digital platforms ranked as the most trusted source of election information during the 2025 general election, according to a study by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). 

Radio stations recorded the highest mean trust score of 3.62 out of five, the IPS found, based on a survey of 2,071 respondents.

Newspapers and their digital platforms were the second most-trusted source with a score of 3.60. Television stations and their related digital channels ranked third at 3.51, indicating that domestic legacy media occupied the top three positions in the trust rankings, IPS said.

Online discussion forums recorded the weakest trust outcomes, posting a mean score of 3.27. It also got the highest share of respondents rating it as very untrustworthy, the IPOS said. 

Podcasts and online content creators registered the lowest mean trust score overall at 3.21, according to the IPS data.

Foreign media websites and social media pages, along with online opinion leaders, got a mean trust scores ranging from 3.29 to 3.37, indicating moderate trust levels but clear distance from local news outlets.