Journalist:innenbarometer: When media brands become an anchor of trust

Disinformation as a central problem in the industry

The Journalist:innenbarometer 2026 of the digital research institute Marketagent shows: The world of information is changing rapidly. More than 550 media professionals from Switzerland, Austria and Germany were surveyed for the latest edition - and the results are clear. 90% of respondents see algorithmic bias in social networks as a relevant factor influencing public opinion. 88% cited fake news and 84% AI-generated content as significant factors. There is almost unanimous concern about the audience: 97% of the journalists surveyed believe that it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to distinguish reliable information from manipulated content. 96% also observe that the disinformation problem has become more acute over the past five years.

Media brands as orientation anchors in the information chaos

According to the experts, traditional media brands are becoming more important again in this increasingly confusing information landscape. According to the study, 77% believe that the brand of a medium will become more important for the audience in the future. More than two thirds - 69% to be precise - are already observing that media brands are increasingly perceived as a signal of trust in journalistic practice. Among deputy editors-in-chief, the figure is as high as 79%.

When people have to decide in future whether information is credible or not, the journalists surveyed expect to be guided primarily by well-known and established media brands (63%), individual journalistic or publishing personalities (50%), their own media expertise and experience (48%) and transparent sources (47%). Recommendations and reviews from personal contacts follow with 42%.

From the journalists' point of view, strong media brands fulfill several functions at the same time: they serve as classification and provide context (62%), offer orientation in an information overload (55%) and help to distinguish disinformation from journalistic content (53%). They could also be perceived as a signal of quality and a guarantee of trust - 52% of respondents see it this way.

«Especially in a world full of AI content and disinformation, quality journalism can play to its greatest strength: Trust. If media consistently focus on transparency, classification and journalistic standards, strong media brands can become the most important points of reference in the digital information society,» says Thomas Schwabl, founder of Marketagent.

Marketagent: Hope and skepticism among industry insiders

However, the Marketagent study reveals a remarkable ambivalence within the industry. On the one hand, many journalists are already observing an increasing importance of media brands as a signal of trust. On the other hand, the future of traditional media remains uncertain from the perspective of many insiders: although almost one in two believe in a renaissance of traditional media brands, 66% consider this idea to be at least partly wishful thinking.

The view of AI is also critical: 72% believe that AI will undermine the credibility of journalistic content in the long term. 68% expect media brands to differentiate themselves more strongly in an AI-dominated information world.

Quality journalism as a niche offering?

Probably the most sobering finding concerns the future role of quality journalism. Many respondents assume that it will become more important, but for a smaller audience. 33% believe that the most likely scenario is that professional quality journalism will primarily be a niche offering for an informed minority in the future. The respondents see the following core tasks as particularly relevant for the future of journalism itself: Orientation in information overload (49 percent), transparency about sources and working methods (47 percent), investigative journalism (45 percent) and in-depth classification instead of fast news (43 percent).

«The industry continues to believe in the importance of trust, credibility and journalistic quality, but doubts whether these values will still reach a broad public in the digital platform age,» says Schwabl.

The Journalist:innenbarometer 2026 is based on 579 online interviews (CAWI) conducted between March 18 and April 7, 2026 via the Marketagent reSEARCH platform. The core target group was journalists from Austria, Germany and Switzerland.