This POSTnote examines trends and patterns in trust in news providers, factors associated with trust, and areas for consideration in the debate about how to improve trust.
Trust in News Providers (621 KB , PDF)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58248/PN727
The United Nations states that people’s trust in the media is essential to “social and economic progress, allowing people to cooperate with and express solidarity for one another”. It highlights the potentially positive impact social media and increased connectivity has on public trust. However, research for UNESCO in 2023 found a high prevalence of false or misleading information on social media (see PN 719), which may reduce public trust in news providers.
International surveys suggest that the UK has relatively low, and declining, levels of trust in news. For example, the World Values Survey found that confidence in the UK press dropped steeply in the 1980s and has remained at one of the lowest levels of trust internationally.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has a priority outcome to “create a broadcasting and media system fit for the 21st century”. Ofcom, the UK statutory regulator, has a priority outcome to support “media we trust and value”.
Since 2020, various parliamentary inquiries have scrutinised aspects of trust in news providers. For example, in January 2024, the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee launched an inquiry into the Future of news: impartiality, trust and technology.
POST is grateful to Jodie Bettis for researching this briefing and to the Economic and Social Research Council for funding this parliamentary fellowship. For further information on this subject, please contact the co-author, Natalie Low.
POSTnotes are based on literature reviews and interviews with a range of stakeholders and are externally peer-reviewed. POST would like to thank interviewees and peer reviewers for kindly giving up their time during the preparation of this briefing, including:
Members of the POST Board*
Ofcom*
Jo Allan and colleagues, Newsworks*
Professor Steven Barnett, Westminster University
Dr Jennifer Birks, Nottingham University*
Sophie Chalk, Voice of the Listener and Viewer*
Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody, The Open University*
John Davidson, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)
Professor Natalie Fenton, Goldsmith’s Leverhulme Media Research Centre*
Chloé Fiodiere, Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Dr Richard Fletcher, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford*
Professor Marie Gillespie, The Open University
Jonathan Heawood, Public Interest News Foundation*
Balihar Khalsa, ITN News*
Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, Impress*
Helen Moor, BBC News
Fiona O’Brien, Reporters Without Borders (RSF)*
Dr Jonathan Tallant, Nottingham University*
Emma Theedom, BBC News
Peter Wright, DMG Media
*denotes people and organisations who acted as external reviewers of the briefing
House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee Inquiry: The future of news: impartiality, trust and technology
Ofcom Broadcasting Code: The Ofcom Broadcasting Code
Trust in News Providers (621 KB , PDF)
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