Trust in Media
Q. How much would you say you trust each of the following media sources to provide you with the news and information you want about Australian politics?
| A lot/some trust | |||||||||||
| Total a lot/some trust | Total not much/no trust | A lot of trust | Some trust | Not much trust | No trust at all | Don’t know | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | ||
| ABC TV | 76% | 15% | 29% | 47% | 9% | 6% | 9% | 73% | 77% | 79% | |
| SBS | 70% | 15% | 24% | 46% | 10% | 5% | 15% | 69% | 72% | 67% | |
| ABC radio | 69% | 17% | 25% | 44% | 11% | 6% | 14% | 66% | 71% | 71% | |
| Daily newspapers | 53% | 40% | 6% | 47% | 31% | 9% | 7% | 52% | 53% | 52% | |
| Commercial TV | 45% | 48% | 4% | 41% | 35% | 13% | 7% | 42% | 48% | 44% | |
| Sky News | 41% | 25% | 7% | 34% | 17% | 8% | 34% | 46% | 42% | 34% | |
| Commercial radio | 40% | 48% | 4% | 36% | 34% | 14% | 12% | 34% | 44% | 41% | |
The most trusted media for news and information about politics were ABC TV (76%), SBS (70%) and ABC radio (69%). The least trusted were commercial radio and commercial TV (both 48% not much or no trust).
Those aged 18-34 tended to have more trust in Sky News (46%) but less trust in commercial radio (34%).
The major differences by voting intention were that Liberal/National voters have more trust in commercial TV (52%), Sky News (48%) and commercial radio (49%).
Trust in TV News and Current Affairs
Q. How much trust do you have in the news and current affairs on the following TV channels?
| A lot of trust | Some trust | Not much trust | Don’t know | |
| ABC | 42% | 42% | 9% | 6% |
| Channel 7 | 8% | 53% | 33% | 6% |
| Channel 9 | 8% | 54% | 31% | 6% |
| Channel 10 | 7% | 55% | 31% | 6% |
| Sky News | 12% | 40% | 17% | 31% |
42% say they have a lot of trust in the ABC news and current affairs and 42% have some trust. Only 9% have not much trust.
Levels of trust in the free-to-air commercial channels are similar – less than 10% have a lot of trust and over 30% say they have not much trust in them.
Sky News is trusted more than the other commercial channels – 12% say they have a lot of trust and only 17% have not much trust.
Highest levels of trust in the ABC are shown by men (47% a lot of trust), Greens voters (62%) and Labor voters (48%) and those on income over $1,600pw (49%). Comments »
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