When you open your phone in the morning, where do you go for news? For millions, it’s not CNN or the New York Times. It’s a Telegram channel with a name like "Breaking News Today" or "Truth Unfiltered." And that’s where things get strange. People who don’t trust TV news or newspapers will swear by a Telegram channel run by someone they’ve never met. Meanwhile, others who grew up with the nightly news still roll their eyes at Telegram, calling it a "wild west" of rumors. Why does this split exist? And who’s really believing what?
Telegram News Feeds Are Personal, Not Professional
Most mainstream news outlets follow clear rules: sources are verified, edits are logged, and corrections are published. Telegram doesn’t. A single person can start a channel, paste a screenshot of a police report, and call it breaking news. No editor. No fact-checker. No byline. And yet, in places like Ukraine, Russia, Brazil, and even parts of the U.S., these channels have millions of subscribers.
Why? Because they feel personal. You’re not reading a corporate article-you’re getting a message from someone who "gets it." The tone is casual, urgent, often angry. It’s not neutral. It’s partisan. And that’s exactly why people trust it. A 2024 Pew Research study found that 68% of Telegram news users under 35 say they trust these channels because they "feel more honest than TV news." Not because they’re more accurate-because they feel more real.
Compare that to traditional media. When a major network corrects a mistake, it’s buried in a footnote. On Telegram, if a rumor turns out wrong, the channel might delete the post-or double down. Followers don’t see that as dishonesty. They see it as loyalty.
Mainstream Media Trust Is Built on Reputation, Not Reaction
People who trust CNN, BBC, or local newspapers aren’t trusting the algorithm. They’re trusting decades of brand history. They remember when those outlets got major stories right-Watergate, 9/11, the Iraq War WMDs. They also remember when those outlets got things wrong. But they still believe in the system: editors, ombudsmen, legal teams, accountability.
That system isn’t fast. It’s not flashy. And for younger audiences, it feels slow and sanitized. A 2025 survey by the Reuters Institute showed that only 31% of U.S. adults under 30 say they trust mainstream media "a lot." For those over 50, it’s 59%. The gap isn’t just about age-it’s about what people expect from news.
Older users want confirmation. They want someone to tell them what’s true. Younger users want connection. They want to feel like they’re in the room when the story breaks. Telegram gives them that. Mainstream media gives them a report.
Demographics Shape Trust More Than Facts
It’s not about education level. It’s not about income. It’s about where you live, who you know, and what you’ve been told your whole life.
In rural areas of the U.S., Telegram channels that spread local rumors about school policies or election fraud often have more followers than the county’s official website. Why? Because those channels speak the same language as the community. They use slang. They reference local events. They don’t apologize for being biased. They don’t pretend to be neutral.
In cities, the opposite is true. Urban users under 30 are more likely to use Telegram for niche topics-crypto updates, protest coordination, underground music-but still turn to AP or local TV for major events like fires, shootings, or political announcements. They know the difference between a rumor channel and a news source.
Meanwhile, in Eastern Europe and Latin America, Telegram is often the *only* reliable news source during political crises. Governments shut down websites. Cell networks go dark. But Telegram channels keep running. In those contexts, trust isn’t about quality-it’s about survival.
Why Telegram Feels More Transparent (Even When It’s Not)
One of the biggest reasons people trust Telegram over mainstream media is perception of transparency. On Telegram, you see the raw feed. You see the same posts everyone else sees. There’s no algorithm hiding some stories. No corporate sponsor influencing headlines. No paywall.
On YouTube or Facebook, you’re shown what the platform thinks you’ll click. On Twitter, you’re trapped in a loop of outrage. On mainstream websites, you get headlines designed to keep you scrolling.
Telegram feels like a direct line. Even if the line is full of noise, it doesn’t feel curated. People say things like, "At least I can see what they’re saying-I can decide for myself." That’s powerful. It doesn’t matter if the source is unreliable. What matters is that the user feels in control.
That’s why misinformation spreads so easily. A false claim on Telegram doesn’t need to be convincing. It just needs to confirm what someone already believes. And if the person you follow shares it, you’re more likely to believe it-even if you know better.
What Happens When Trust Breaks Down
When a Telegram channel gets exposed as fake, followers don’t always leave. They just find another one. A 2025 study from Stanford’s Digital Civil Society Lab tracked 1,200 users who were shown proof that their favorite Telegram news channel was run by a bot farm. Half of them stopped using it. The other half switched to a different channel with a similar tone and message.
That’s the real problem. It’s not that people believe lies. It’s that they believe *belonging* more than truth. If your social circle trusts a Telegram channel, you trust it too-even if you know it’s flawed. Trust here isn’t about facts. It’s about identity.
Meanwhile, mainstream media faces a different crisis: irrelevance. When younger audiences say they don’t trust the news, what they really mean is, "This doesn’t speak to me." They don’t see themselves in the stories. They don’t see their struggles. They don’t see their language. And that’s why they turn to Telegram-even when it’s wrong.
Can Trust Be Fixed?
There’s no magic fix. Mainstream outlets can’t become Telegram. And Telegram can’t become CNN. But both sides can learn.
Mainstream media needs to stop treating Telegram users as gullible. They’re not. They’re just looking for something the big outlets stopped offering: urgency, voice, and authenticity. Some outlets are starting to adapt. The BBC now runs short Telegram updates with real reporters on camera. Local newspapers in Ohio and Texas are hiring community reporters to post daily updates on Telegram channels. The results? Higher engagement. More shares. More trust.
Telegram users need to ask harder questions. Not every channel with "Truth" in the name is telling it. Not every screenshot is real. Not every "insider" is real. The best users don’t just follow one channel. They cross-check. They look for multiple sources. They wait 30 minutes before sharing. That’s not skepticism-it’s survival.
The real divide isn’t between old and new media. It’s between people who want to be told what’s true-and people who want to find out for themselves. The challenge isn’t to make one side win. It’s to give both sides tools to think better.
What You Can Do Right Now
If you use Telegram for news:
- Check the channel’s history. Has it been around for more than a year?
- Look for sources. Does the post link to a government site, court document, or verified report?
- Search the headline on Google. If it’s only on Telegram, be cautious.
- Follow at least two opposing channels. One that agrees with you. One that doesn’t.
If you work with mainstream media:
- Don’t ignore Telegram. Study it. See what’s trending.
- Use it as a pulse check-not a source.
- Try posting short, unedited video updates on Telegram. No slick graphics. Just you, talking.
- Admit when you don’t know something. People respect honesty more than polished answers.
Trust isn’t about being right. It’s about being present. And right now, Telegram is present. Mainstream media is often not.
Why do younger people trust Telegram more than TV news?
Younger users trust Telegram because it feels personal and unfiltered. They see mainstream news as slow, corporate, and sanitized. Telegram channels often use casual language, react quickly to events, and don’t pretend to be neutral-which makes them feel more honest, even when they’re not accurate.
Is Telegram more dangerous than social media for fake news?
Telegram is riskier than platforms like Facebook or Twitter because it has no content moderation. Misinformation spreads faster since there’s no algorithm to flag or reduce it. Unlike Facebook, where fake posts get buried, Telegram posts stay visible unless manually deleted. That makes it a preferred tool for organized disinformation campaigns.
Do people in the U.S. trust Telegram news more than in other countries?
No. In the U.S., trust in Telegram news is concentrated among specific groups-rural communities, political activists, and younger adults who distrust institutions. In countries like Ukraine, Russia, or Brazil, Telegram is often the primary source of news during crises because government-controlled media is unreliable or censored. Trust there is born from necessity, not preference.
Can mainstream media compete with Telegram on trust?
Not by copying Telegram’s style. But they can rebuild trust by being more human. Posting real-time video updates from reporters on the ground, admitting mistakes openly, and engaging with communities instead of broadcasting at them. People don’t want perfect reporting-they want reliable, transparent voices they can connect with.
What’s the biggest myth about Telegram news?
The biggest myth is that Telegram is just for conspiracy theorists. In reality, millions use it for legitimate, real-time updates-from local weather alerts to protest coordination to business news in countries with restricted press. The problem isn’t the platform. It’s the lack of media literacy on how to tell credible channels from dangerous ones.
What Comes Next?
The gap between Telegram and mainstream news won’t close. It’ll widen. And that’s not necessarily bad. What matters is whether people learn how to navigate both. The future of news isn’t one platform replacing another. It’s users becoming smarter consumers of multiple sources-and media organizations learning to speak in more than one language.
Latest Posts
How Telegram Changes Who Controls the News
16/Nov/2025
