A growing number of young people in Spain neither follow the news nor show any interest in doing so, according to the Digital News Report España 2026, a study produced by social researchers at the University of Navarra. The report found that this group, described in the study as "informational Ninis," grows larger with each new wave of the research.
The term echoes the long-used Spanish label "ni estudian ni trabajan" (neither study nor work), which described a generation of young people outside education and employment, a social problem that Spain has only recently begun to overcome after three decades.
The study found that 7% of young people in Spain admit they never seek out news. Only 54% check the news once a day, and just 25% say they trust what news outlets report. That distrust extends even to social media, despite it being their main source of information.
Global trust in news declining
The findings sit alongside a wider trend identified by the Reuters Institute, whose report warns that overall trust in news has fallen to 37% worldwide. The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, based at the University of Oxford, produces the annual Digital News Report, with national editions such as the Spanish study compiled by local research teams.
Despite this distrust, young people remain surrounded by information through social networks, search engines, video platforms and apps, environments where they can be overwhelmed by content in whatever format, language and volume they choose.
Personal connection before news
The study points to a key pattern: young people tend to consume news only after first forming what researchers describe as a personal connection with the source. They want to feel close to that source and be entertained, something traditional news coverage rarely offers.
The report raises questions about whether serious journalists trained in professional ethical standards could become the kind of influencer followed by 16 to 24 year olds, noting that politicians who have tried this approach have failed. The study adds that these young people, despite their distance from the news, do vote.
