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Summary

documented In the 2025 national media survey (5,000 sampled, 2,665 responses, stratified two-stage random sampling from the residential register), trust scores out of 100 were: NHK television 66.8, newspapers 66.2, commercial television 60.1, radio 55.4, the internet 47.4 — the internet's score having fallen 10.6 points since 2008.1

Consumption

documented Weekly news contact: commercial TV 84.2%, internet 76.4%, NHK TV 69.4%, newspapers 51.0%, radio 28.3%.1 documented Daily contact: internet 46.5%, commercial TV 46.1%, NHK 35.8%, newspapers 33.4%.1 documented Newspaper subscription rate fell to 50.1%, down 38.5 points since the survey began in 2008; the share saying free sources are sufficient rose from 20.4% (2018) to 29.3%, and those who would not read a paper even free rose from 8.8% to 15.9%.1 documented The internet has now overtaken both newspapers and television as the primary source of political information.2

The stated reason trust is falling

documented Of the 10% who said their trust in newspapers had declined over the past year, the single most-cited reason (50%) was that newspapers "report in a way that is biased toward a particular force."1 documented The survey also finds a consumption–belief correlation: people who rely only on social media, and who agree that "SNS tells you the truth about society better than the mass media," are more likely to favour cutting social security to reduce consumption tax.1 contested This correlation is frequently cited as proof of media capture or of audience gullibility depending on who cites it; the survey establishes the correlation, not its direction of causation.

The age gradient

documented Among 20-somethings, short-form and video social media outrank television and newspapers as sources used to decide how to vote; for those in their 30s they rank behind only commercial television.1 documented Newspaper readership is highest among men in their 60s (40.4%) and lowest among women in their teens (1.2%).2

Links

Footnotes

  1. Japan Newspaper Foundation, 18th National Public Opinion Survey on the Media (2025) — trust scores, contact rates, subscription decline, the "biased toward a particular force" reason at 50%, the SNS-attitude correlations, age gradients. ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. Reuters Institute DNR 2026 Japan — internet as primary political-information source, readership demographics, 2026 election social-media dynamics. ↩↩