Trust in Newspapers
Q. How much trust do you have in what you read in the following newspapers?
Total a lot/some 25 Jul 11 |
Total a lot/some |
A lot of trust |
Some trust |
Not much trust |
No trust at all |
Don’t know |
|
The Australian |
69% |
60% |
15% |
45% |
23% |
12% |
6% |
The Telegraph (NSW only) |
52% |
49% |
10% |
39% |
30% |
19% |
3% |
Sydney Morning Herald (NSW only) |
74% |
69% |
19% |
50% |
22% |
6% |
4% |
The Age (Victoria only) |
79% |
76% |
20% |
56% |
18% |
5% |
1% |
Herald Sun (Victoria only) |
54% |
51% |
8% |
43% |
32% |
15% |
1% |
Courier Mail (Queensland only) |
65% |
51% |
6% |
45% |
28% |
13% |
7% |
* Note : Percentages based only on respondents who had read each newspaper.
Among those who have read the newspaper, 20% have a lot of trust in The Age and 19% have a lot of trust in the SMH. 15% of readers of The Australian have a lot of trust in the newspaper but only 10% have a lot of trust in The Telegraph and 8% in The Herald Sun. 49% have not much or no trust in The Telegraph and 47% have not much or no trust in The Herald Sun.
Overall, the most trusted newspapers were The Age (76% a lot/some trust) and the SMH (69%). The least trusted were The Telegraph (49% a lot/some trust), the HeraldSun (51%) and the Courier Mail (51%).
Since this question was asked last year, there have been significant declines in trust in the Courier Mail (down 14%) and The Australian (down 9%).
Liberal/National voters (70%) were more likely than Labor voters (48%) to have a lot or some trust in The Australian.
Pay to Access News Websites
Q. Some newspapers in Australia now require readers to take out a subscription to view all their articles online. This means, while some news and opinion articles are free, readers will have to pay to access all content. How likely would you be to pay a subscription to access news websites?
Total 7 Nov 11 |
Total |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
Read The Aust |
Read SMH |
Read Tele |
Read The Age |
Read Herald Sun |
Read Courier mail |
|
Total likely |
9% |
13% |
22% |
11% |
6% |
25% |
28% |
18% |
22% |
10% |
18% |
Total not likely |
88% |
82% |
71% |
85% |
93% |
72% |
69% |
79% |
76% |
88% |
81% |
Very likely |
2% |
3% |
5% |
3% |
1% |
12% |
7% |
6% |
5% |
4% |
5% |
Somewhat likely |
7% |
10% |
17% |
8% |
5% |
13% |
21% |
12% |
17% |
6% |
13% |
Not very likely |
18% |
17% |
16% |
18% |
17% |
19% |
18% |
19% |
21% |
19% |
13% |
Not at all likely |
70% |
65% |
55% |
67% |
76% |
53% |
51% |
60% |
55% |
69% |
68% |
Don’t know |
4% |
5% |
7% |
5% |
* |
3% |
3% |
4% |
2% |
2% |
2% |
13% of respondents said they would be very or somewhat likely to pay to access news websites – up from 9% recorded in November last year.
Younger respondents were more likely to be willing to pay for access to news websites – 22% of those aged under 35.
Current readers most likely to pay for access were readers of the SMH (28%), The Australian (25%) and The Age (22%).
Only 10% of HeraldSun readers said they would be likely to pay for access.
Approval of Marine Reserves
Q. The Federal Government recently announced plans to protect large areas of Australia’s marine environment in a network of marine reserves. Do you approve or disapprove of these plans?
Total
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Total approve |
70% |
79% |
62% |
89% |
Total disapprove |
13% |
8% |
22% |
1% |
Strongly approve |
35% |
45% |
23% |
64% |
Approve |
35% |
34% |
39% |
25% |
Disapprove |
9% |
6% |
15% |
1% |
Strongly disapprove |
4% |
2% |
7% |
– |
Don’t know |
16% |
13% |
16% |
10% |
70% approved of the Federal Government’s plans to protect large areas of Australia’s marine environment in a network of marine reserves and 13% disapproved.
Approval was similar across all demographic groups – no group recorded approval lower than 65%.

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