Many don’t trust the media or journalists to be accurate in their portrayal of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Towards the end of April, a Sky News poll found that the NHS was most trusted with Covid-19 information, with TV journalists and newspapers trailing (rated?) as the most untrustworthy. Newspapers and journals were around negative 60 in trust with politicians, both the government and the opposition, being deemed more trustworthy - with Boris Johnson being awarded a positive 15 in trust and Starmer at negative 10.
Although it must be understood that distrust in the media hasn’t started within the coronavirus pandemic. Just before the December GE, upmarket newspapers were only trusted 46% by Lib Dems, 42% by Labour voters, and 41% by Conservative voters. In December, one in five Britons did not trust the BBC to tell the truth at all.
In the US, 43% of voters expressed that they do not trust professional journalists to various degrees. Consumers of right-wing media are seen to trust professional journalists even less, with Republicans trusting them a lot less than every other voting group.
The proportion of central UK voters that trust news and information about coronavirus from news organisations was found by a poll to be just over 50%, and the same voters found the government to be equally as trusted. This shows news outlets just as trusted as politicians themselves.
Does this show the breakdown in unbiased media? What does this mean for the future of political engagement? Could we see a new age of political broadcasting [having to] emerge?
Written by Jessica Craighill
Artwork by Zara Masood
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