@techreport{OswaldMunzert, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Oswald, Lisa and Munzert, Simon}, title = {Exposure to untrustworthy news media then and now: Declining news media quality over 7 years}, publisher = {OSF}, doi = {10.31235/osf.io/5ndjx_v1}, pages = {8}, abstract = {In a rapidly evolving digital media landscape, understanding how exposure to untrustworthy news changes over time is essential for evaluating its potential effects on public attitudes and behavior. However, there is limited evidence on how demand for untrustworthy news develops across longer time frames. Linking web data with surveys, we compare exposure to untrustworthy news sources across demographic and political groups and over a 7-year time frame for two samples of German adults (N = 1,212 in 2017 and N = 436 in 2024). Visits to untrustworthy news sources make up less than 1\% of media diets and are associated with low satisfaction with democracy and a preference for a far-right party. Propensity score matching reveals stability in untrustworthy news exposure, yet a notable decline in the average quality of news diets over 7 years. These results suggest that while untrustworthy news exposure remains limited and stable, a broader erosion in news quality may pose a growing challenge for informed democratic engagement.}, language = {en} }