After reading the Edelman Trust Barometer Report, which revealed that the media has consistently been the least trusted institution in recent years, I wanted to understand further the factors influencing people’s trust (or lack thereof) in news and news organizations. This led me to a Reuters Institute report titled Listening to What Trust in News Means to Users. The report focuses on media environments in four countries – Brazil, India, the UK, and the US – each not only differing significantly in their cultures, politics, and media systems but also resembling each other in how centrally important digital platforms have become as critical information brokers.
One striking revelation from the report is that people agree that they don’t trust the news much. It doesn’t matter where they’re from; people have similar worries about whether news sources are reliable. This shows how tough it is for media companies to earn and keep people’s trust.
Here’s a summary of the key findings of the report:
- Familiarity with brands and their reputations offline often shaped people’s opinions about news content online as well. Findings show that it’s hard to tell the difference between news sources we trust and the ones we just like.
- Editorial processes in journalism were rarely central to trust considerations. Many focused on how the news looked and felt, thinking this was a sign of whether it was good or not.
- Individual journalists’ work was less visible than that of TV presenters, and prominent media personalities often polarized the field. People often mention outspoken journalists despite preferring impartial, fact-based news.
- Bias perceptions in news coverage often reflect individuals’ political or social identities. In all four countries, people frequently reference objectivity, impartiality, and balance as essential qualities of trustworthy journalism.
- Few mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic as influencing their trust in news sources. While some expressed concerns about encountering health-related misinformation, overall, the pandemic did not significantly change their existing views on the news media.
- Most had low trust in platform information. Judgments of news outlets depended on existing brand perceptions.
- Sense of familiarity and attachment with brand or source. Many said they based their judgments about trustworthiness on their familiarity with a given news organization.
- Longevity matters. Being around for a long time gives many confidence that an organization is more deserving of trust.
- Many decided whether to trust information based on broader categorizations of entire modes of media, e.g., television versus online versus print.
- Others used the aesthetic characteristics of websites as indicators of the news quality itself.
- Reliance on sensationalism or clickbait. This was typically associated with lower-quality information.
- Focus on how the news makes people feel. A site’s appearance affects how people feel about it. Some say there’s a feeling of ease when you read something clean, clear, precise, and well-written.
Despite challenges, perceptions of reliability and credibility continue to shape news consumption habits globally, warranting continuous efforts toward transparency and integrity in journalism.