Channel NewsAsia
Channel NewsAsia is trusted by 78 percent of Singapore respondents who know it, the top trust score in this Top 21.
Official site for Channel NewsAsia
The 21 best news sources
Major online news sites worldwide.
Top 21
Straits Times
The Straits Times, Singapore's main English-language daily, is trusted by 77 percent of respondents who recognise it in Reuters Institute polling.
Official site for Straits Times
ABC News (Australia)
Australia's public broadcaster ABC News is trusted by 66 percent of Australian respondents who know it, level with rival SBS News.
Official site for ABC News (Australia)
ARD Tagesschau
Germany's public-broadcast Tagesschau bulletin is trusted by 65 percent of German respondents who know it, matching ZDF heute at the top.
Official site for ARD Tagesschau
The Hindu
The Hindu, a Chennai-based national daily, is trusted by 63 percent of Indian respondents who know it, in a high-trust sample.
CBC News
CBC News, the English service of Canada's public broadcaster, is trusted by 62 percent of the Canadian respondents familiar with it.
Daily Maverick
Daily Maverick, South Africa's investigative digital news outlet, is trusted by 62 percent of South African respondents who know the publication.
Official site for Daily Maverick
BBC News
BBC News is trusted by 59 percent of British respondents who know it, the top brand trust score in that survey.
Corriere della Sera
Corriere della Sera, the Milan national daily founded in 1876, is trusted by 59 percent of Italian respondents who know it.
Official site for Corriere della Sera
Der Spiegel
Hamburg's Der Spiegel, the German newsweekly famous for its investigations, is trusted by 57 percent of German respondents who know it.
NHK News
NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, posts the top brand trust score in the Japanese survey, trusted by 57 percent of its respondents.
Financial Times
The Financial Times is trusted by 56 percent of British respondents who know it, ahead of every other British newspaper surveyed.
Official site for Financial Times
Folha de S.Paulo
Folha de S.Paulo, one of Brazil's largest newspapers, is trusted by 53 percent of Brazilian respondents who are familiar with it.
Official site for Folha de S.Paulo
Infobae
Infobae, the Buenos Aires digital news giant, is trusted by 53 percent of Argentine respondents who know it, ahead of Clarín.
Le Monde
Le Monde, France's leading national daily, is trusted by 53 percent of French respondents who know it, ahead of Le Figaro.
Nikkei
Nikkei, Japan's leading business newspaper, is trusted by 51 percent of Japanese respondents who know it, above most other national dailies.
The Guardian
The Guardian is trusted by 51 percent of British respondents who know it, while twenty percent of those respondents distrust it.
Official site for The Guardian
El País
El País, the Madrid-based national daily, is trusted by 49 percent of Spanish respondents who know it, ahead of El Mundo.
NPR News
NPR News is trusted by 44 percent of American respondents who know it, in a country where news trust is low.
The New York Times
The New York Times is trusted by 43 percent of American respondents who know it, while 32 percent actively distrust it.
Official site for The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is trusted by 43 percent of American respondents who know it, exactly matching The New York Times.
Official site for The Wall Street Journal
How this Top 21 is ranked
Twenty-one national news brands from Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australia, scored by audience trust. Each score is the share of people in the outlet’s home-country survey for the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026 who have heard of the brand and rate it trustworthy, so 59 means 59 percent. Trust levels differ a lot between countries: Singapore and South Africa trust their news far more than the United States, so compare outlets within a country first. Outlets not polled in any Digital News Report market, such as wire services and international broadcasters, are not listed. Channel NewsAsia currently leads with 78. The score is not a measure of accuracy, so read it alongside each 21-word verdict. Last checked 12 October 2026.
Questions
What is the top-rated news source on 21words?
Channel NewsAsia currently has the highest score, 78 out of 100, followed by Straits Times (77) and ABC News (Australia) (66). Scores were last checked on 12 October 2026.
How is each news source scored?
Each score is the share of people in the outlet’s home country who know the brand and say they trust it, from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026. It is not an accuracy rating. Every verdict is an original summary of exactly 21 words.
How often is this news source ranking updated?
We re-check every score each Monday. If a source cannot be reached or a figure cannot be confirmed, we keep the previous score rather than guess, and every change is logged on our What changed this week page.
What changed this week · All head-to-head comparisons · All guides
Related guides
- Japan, across 21 categories
- Africa, across 21 categories
- Latin America, across 21 categories
- All guides →