Why Greeks are going to TikTok for news instead of newspapers or TV

Katerina Spyropoulou follows current affairs and cares deeply about issues such as youth unemployment, social inequality, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But she has never held a newspaper, and doesn’t get her news from television.

Her choice reflects more than a generational preference for TikTok. For more than a decade, Greece has ranked among the countries with the lowest level of trust in news, according to Reuters Institute’s annual Digital News Report. So to stay up to date with the world, Greeks rely on the internet , and social media in particular , to stay informed.

It’s a situation that puts Greece at the extremes of global news, consumption behavior. But it also makes the country into an important test case for how media will have to evolve and adapt as the young disengage from the news , and how they might be able to rebuild the trust they have lost over the years.

Just 18% of Greeks said they trust the news in the 2026 edition of the Digital News Report; that’s less than half the global average of 38%, and among the lowest percentages in Europe. In addition, 64% of respondents to the report in Greece said they got their news from social media , far higher than their neighbors. Only 10% said they used print, 15% radio, and 46% TV to stay up to date: all at the bottom of European rankings.

Antonis Kalogeropoulos, the report’s lead researcher in Greece, says the figures reflect a long-term erosion of confidence rather than a sudden collapse.

Years of shrinking advertising revenues have forced publishers to prioritize volume over depth, says Nefeli Agkyridou, head of digital at Star Channel, one of the country’s largest broadcasters. “Quantity lowers quality and drives clickbait topics. Media outlets are trapped in this cycle,” she says.

Furthermore, Greece’s media landscape is dominated by a relatively small circle of influential business owners. Their interests often stretch far beyond journalism into industries such as shipping, construction, energy, and professional sports. Greeks tend to believe their news media are subject to undue political and business influence.