News avoidance in the Nordic countries is increasing, even in media systems that still rank among the most trusted in Europe, according to the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2026. In Norway, four in ten people now say they avoid news often or sometimes, while Denmark and Norway are among the countries where avoidance has grown most sharply over the past year.
News avoidance is no longer only a low-trust problem
The annual Reuters Institute survey, which covers 48 markets and is based on almost 100,000 interviews with online news consumers, shows that news avoidance has become a structural challenge for journalism. Across the markets covered by the report, 42 percent of respondents say they often or sometimes avoid the news.
The Nordic data suggest that this trend is not limited to countries where trust in journalism is already weak. Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland continue to benefit from strong public service media, widely used legacy news brands and comparatively high levels of media trust. Yet the same countries are not immune to fatigue, anxiety and disengagement.
In Norway, 39 percent of respondents say they avoid news often or sometimes, according to the Norwegian findings reported by NRK and VG. The increase is one of the largest recorded in this year’s report. Researchers quoted in Norway link the trend to a heavy news agenda dominated by wars, conflicts, geopolitical uncertainty and misinformation.
Norway’s paradox: stable trust, growing fatigue
Norway offers one of the clearest examples of the Nordic paradox. Trust in editorial media remains stable, and Norwegian news users continue to rely heavily on established brands such as NRK, VG and local newspapers. At the same time, more people are actively stepping back from the news.
The increase does not necessarily mean that Norwegians distrust journalism. It may instead reflect a form of selective news avoidance, where people reduce exposure to news because they find the agenda emotionally demanding or repetitive. The Reuters Institute has described this as part of a longer-term decline in online news engagement, especially among younger people and groups with lower levels of education.
The Norwegian findings also show that concern about false or misleading information has reached a high level. More than half of respondents say they are worried about fake news. This concern adds another layer to the problem: people may still value professional journalism, but feel overwhelmed by the wider information environment in which news, opinion, misinformation and AI-generated content circulate together.
Denmark and Norway show the sharpest Nordic warning signs
The 2026 report identifies Denmark and Norway as two of the countries with the biggest year-on-year increases in news avoidance, with Denmark up by 7 percentage points and Norway up by 9 percentage points. This makes the Nordic region particularly relevant for understanding why people disengage even when media institutions remain comparatively strong.
Denmark has a highly digitised media market, strong public service broadcasters and several successful subscription-based digital outlets. Norway has one of Europe’s most developed reader-revenue markets, with a strong local press and a high willingness to pay for online news. These are usually considered signs of a resilient media system.
The rise in avoidance therefore points to a different type of pressure. The issue is not only whether people trust media outlets, but whether they feel able or willing to keep following a constant flow of news about war, climate disruption, domestic politics and social conflict.
Finland and Sweden remain high-trust cases, but not outside the trend
Finland and Sweden are also important in the Nordic comparison. Finland has repeatedly ranked among the countries with the highest levels of trust in news in the Reuters Institute’s recent reports. Sweden, meanwhile, combines a highly digital news environment with strong public service media and a competitive commercial press.
The available Reuters country data indicate that both countries remain part of the broader Northern European pattern: media trust is relatively high by international standards, but audience habits are changing. Digital platforms, video formats, creators and social media have become more important gateways to information, especially for younger users.
This shift does not automatically mean that professional journalism is losing relevance. It does mean that Nordic news organisations increasingly compete for attention in a fragmented environment, where users can easily mute, scroll past or replace news with lighter forms of content.
Why people turn away from the news
The Reuters Institute has linked the rise in avoidance to several overlapping factors. Many users describe the news as repetitive, negative or emotionally draining. Others say they feel powerless in the face of global crises. Some avoid specific topics, such as war, climate change or domestic politics, rather than abandoning news altogether.
In the Nordic context, this matters because public debate often relies on a comparatively high level of shared information. Strong public service media and local newspapers have historically helped create common reference points across social groups and regions. If avoidance becomes more common, those shared reference points may weaken.
The problem is also connected to misinformation. When people reduce their exposure to professional journalism, they may still encounter news-like content through social platforms, influencers or AI-generated summaries. This can make it harder for editorial media to maintain their role as trusted intermediaries.
A democratic challenge for Nordic media
For Nordic countries, news avoidance is not only a media business issue. It is also a democratic issue. Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are often associated with high institutional trust, strong civic cultures and well-developed public debate. These features depend partly on citizens having access to reliable information and feeling that news is relevant to their lives.
The rise in avoidance suggests that even strong media systems must adapt. More constructive formats, clearer explanations, local relevance and transparent editorial choices may help audiences stay informed without feeling overloaded. The challenge is to do this without diluting journalism’s core function: reporting facts, scrutinising power and covering difficult stories.
The Nordic experience shows that trust alone is not enough. People may still believe in journalism and still choose to take a break from it. For newsrooms, the task is to understand that gap before occasional avoidance turns into long-term disengagement.
