Digital News Report 2025. Episode 4: How people check if information is real or fake

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

We discuss how people check information that they suspect might be false, fake or misleading, and the role of news organisations in this process. If people come across information which they suspect may be false, fake or misleading, where do they turn to verify or debunk it? This is the question at the heart of this episode of our podcast mini series on the Digital News Report 2025. We discuss what are the most frequently named sources, where news organisations fit in among the wider choice of institutions, platforms and fac-checking websites, and how this all varies according to different audience factors. Speakers: Rasmus Kleis Nielsen is a Professor at the Department of Communication of the University of Copenhagen and a Senior Research Associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. He is a co-author of the Digital News Report 2025. Host Mitali Mukherjee is the Director of the Reuters Institute and is a political economy journalist with more than two decades of experience in TV, print and digital journalism. Find a full transcript here: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/our-podcast-digital-news-report-2025-episode-4-how-people-check-if-information-real-or-fake