Artificial intelligence is also changing news consumption in Finland – audience relationship increasingly important
Finns’ trust in the news is still at an exceptionally high level internationally. 63 percent of Finns feel that most news can be trusted, compared to an international average of 37 percent. Compared to other Nordic countries, trust levels in Finland are about ten percentage points higher.
Paying for news continues to grow in popularity in Finland, which is an exceptional trend internationally. Finns are still among the top payers for online news in the study. Many people want less news, but more content that is meaningful to them and connected to their daily lives.
“As the media environment changes rapidly, so do audience habits. The most important asset for a news media is a strong audience relationship and a service that genuinely meets the needs of users,” says Antti Karvanen, Senior Product Manager at Sanoma Media Finland, in the country report for Finland.
In Finland, the use of AI chatbots as a news source is still at a relatively low level internationally, but it is growing. Five percent of Finns say they have used AI chatbots as a news source in the past week, compared to three percent a year ago. Users particularly appreciate the opportunity to ask further questions, receive summaries of news and get translations in different languages. AI can speed up the acquisition of information, but at the same time, the need for reliable interpretation and contextualisation becomes more pronounced.
The Reuters Institute's Digital News Report survey compares news consumption in 48 countries. In Finland, a total of 2,043 people responded to the survey in early 2026. The Finnish part of the study was funded by the Media Industry Research Foundation, and the report was prepared by Ville Manninen, a postdoctoral researcher in journalism, and Professor Mikko Villi from the University of Jyväskylä.
