Presented on June 16, 2026, the new edition of the report produced by the Master in Giornalismo “Giorgio Bocca” of the University of Turin is now available. Torino Social Impact contributed with a focus on journalism as a democratic infrastructure in the era of the impact economy.

The Digital News Report Italia 2026 is now available. Produced by the Master in Giornalismo “Giorgio Bocca” of the University of Turin, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the Italian context within the Digital News Report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.

The third edition offers a complex picture of the Italian information ecosystem. Interest in news and trust in information continue to weaken: 34% of the Italian public say they are very or extremely interested in news, while trust stands at 32%. At the same time, news consumption remains frequent: 57% access journalistic information several times a day.

The report therefore frames the current challenge as a shift from a crisis of attention to a crisis of relationship. The public has not disappeared: it is more distant, more selective and increasingly mediated by platforms, algorithms, creators and artificial intelligence tools. For news organisations, the challenge is not only to be present in these digital environments, but also to make their value recognisable when the first encounter with a news story happens elsewhere.

One of the new areas explored in the 2026 edition is the role of creators and newsfluencers: 36% of respondents say they accessed news from creators or influencers in the previous week. This points to a demand for clearer, more direct and more engaging information, while also highlighting the need to preserve recognisable boundaries between journalism, entertainment and platform-driven content.

The findings on payments also reveal an important transformation. Willingness to pay for news remains limited, but among those who do pay, continuing subscriptions and motivations connected to a credible journalistic project are becoming more significant. Paying for news is not only about buying an information product: it is also about recognising the value of a subject that is perceived as trustworthy.

Torino Social Impact contributed to the report with the focus “Journalism and impact: information as a democratic infrastructure – Informing to rebuild trust”. Raffaella Scalisi, Senior Advisor of TSI, reflects on information as a driver of democratic participation, media literacy and trust-building, starting from the relationship between journalism, the impact economy and the social economy.

From this perspective, bringing journalism closer to place-based organisations – social enterprises, third sector organisations, hybrid organisations and territorial networks – can generate impact on multiple levels: drawing attention to transformative responses to social challenges, making the narrative around marginalisation more complete and constructive, including often excluded voices in the public debate, and strengthening people’s ability to navigate today’s media environment.

The contribution is part of a broader joint path developed by Torino Social Impact and the Master, and further strengthened through the Impact Journalism Spring Lab, an advanced training and professional exchange programme on impact journalism held in Turin in May 2025.

The full report is available on the website of the Master in Giornalismo “Giorgio Bocca” of the University of Turin: read the Digital News Report Italia 2026.