Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Trust in the media falls

Just been reading the 2009 Edelman Trust Barometer (Ht-Roy Greenslade)

It doesn't make good reading for the media

Trust in nearly every type of news outlet and spokesperson
is down from last year among our 18-country
tracking audience of 35-to-64-year-olds.


and in particular

Trust in television news coverage dropped from 49%
to 36%, and trust in newspaper articles fell from
47% to 34%.


However in the context of the survey it has not been a good year for trust full stop as the opening summary says

This year, the world had more reasons than ever before to suspend its trust—and
for the most part, our data reflect this. Nearly two in three informed publics—62% of
25-to-64-year-olds surveyed in 20 countries—say they trust corporations less now
than they did a year ago. When it comes to being distrusted, business is not alone.
Globally, trust in business, media, and government is half-empty; and trust in
government scores even lower than trust in business.


Roy though makes a good point about the media aspect of it

If the public do not trust us, despite us repeatedly saying that we act for the public interest, then we ought to do all we can to find out why.
Is it because we are now seen as a monolithic institution rather than a disaggregated group of outlets? Is it because we are viewed as no different from any other business, seeking profit rather than acting as a public service? Is it because we have been guilty of publishing false stories?

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