“48 per cent of Italians have fallen victim to fake news”
The results of the Ipsos Doxa survey presented at the Ischia Prize, now in its 47th edition
The need for information remains high. What is waning, however, is the ability to navigate an increasingly fragmented system, in which platforms, influencers, commentators and ordinary users now play a role alongside traditional media in the selection and dissemination of news. This is the picture that emerges from the Ipsos Doxa study ‘Public Consumption Practices, Risks and Opportunities in the Italian Information Landscape’, presented in Lacco Ameno at the 47th edition of the Ischia International Journalism Award.
The most striking figure relates to disinformation: 48 per cent of Italians say they have fallen victim to fake news at least a few times. And 51 per cent find it difficult to access high-quality information in Italia today. These two figures illustrate the public’s crisis of orientation in the new media landscape. The proliferation of channels makes it harder to identify sources and distinguish journalistic content from manipulated content.
However, the survey, carried out in June 2026 on a sample of 1,500 people aged between 16 and 65, shows that interest in news is not waning. 49 per cent of respondents consider keeping up to date with the news to be ‘very important’, and this figure rises to 93 per cent when those who consider it ‘quite important’ are included.Even among the under-35s, the group furthest removed from traditional media, the figure remains high: 39 per cent consider news very important and 91 per cent at least fairly important. Nor is there any sign of a decline in the time devoted to news: 75 per cent of the population believe they devote the right amount of time to it, a figure that falls to 69 per cent among younger people.
Television news, the press and radio continue to play a central role, but they are no longer the only point of access. Distribution increasingly takes place via entities that act as filters and amplifiers. The platforms that are replacing legacy media do not enjoy the same credibility, whilst the journalism profession itself suffers from a less robust public image.
Artificial intelligence adds a further element of disruption. The research reveals a growing awareness of the opportunities, but the perception of risks remains prevalent. One in three Italians fears, above all, that AI could be used to produce fake or manipulated news without the reader realising it. Among the under-35s, however, the same technology is already being used to verify information.
