Trust in media coverage of election campaign
Q. How much trust do you have in the way the following media have reported and commented on the election campaign so far?
Total a lot/sometrust |
|
A lot of trust |
Some trust |
Not much trust |
No trust at all |
Don’t know |
Don’t use |
|
ABC TV |
58% |
22% |
36% |
10% |
7% |
8% |
17% |
|
SBS TV |
52% |
16% |
36% |
9% |
5% |
10% |
24% |
|
Commercial TV |
29% |
3% |
26% |
34% |
19% |
9% |
9% |
|
ABC radio |
49% |
16% |
33% |
10% |
8% |
8% |
25% |
|
Commercial radio |
25% |
4% |
21% |
27% |
19% |
10% |
18% |
|
The Australian |
31% |
5% |
26% |
15% |
16% |
9% |
27% |
|
The Telegraph (NSW) |
25% |
7% |
18% |
21% |
28% |
7% |
19% |
|
Sydney Morning Herald (NSW) |
39% |
7% |
32% |
21% |
16% |
8% |
17% |
|
The Age (Victoria) |
42% |
7% |
35% |
21% |
13% |
9% |
15% |
|
Herald Sun (Victoria) |
30% |
5% |
25% |
25% |
26% |
8% |
12% |
|
Courier Mail (Queensland) |
23% |
2% |
21% |
20% |
21% |
9% |
27% |
The most trusted media for coverage of the election campaign were ABC TV (58% trust), SBS TV (52%) and ABC radio (49%).
The most trusted newspapers were The Age (42%) and the Sydney Morning Herald (39%).
The least trusted media were the Courier Mail (23%), The Telegraph (25%) and commercial radio (25%).
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 25 Jun 12 |
Total a lot/some 21 Jan 13 |
A lot of trust |
Some trust |
Not much trust |
No trust at all |
Don’t know |
|
The Australian |
69% |
60% |
65% |
10% |
55% |
20% |
10% |
5% |
The Telegraph (NSW only) |
52% |
49% |
48% |
5% |
43% |
35% |
15% |
2% |
Sydney Morning Herald (NSW only) |
74% |
69% |
71% |
12% |
59% |
20% |
9% |
1% |
The Age (Victoria only) |
79% |
76% |
71% |
11% |
60% |
16% |
9% |
4% |
Herald Sun (Victoria only) |
54% |
51% |
50% |
8% |
42% |
28% |
20% |
2% |
Courier Mail (Queensland only) |
65% |
51% |
57% |
4% |
53% |
22% |
19% |
3% |
* Note : Percentages based only on respondents who had read each newspaper.
Among those who have read the newspaper, 11% have a lot of trust in The Age and 12% have a lot of trust in the SMH. 10% of readers of The Australian have a lot of trust in the newspaper but only 5% have a lot of trust in The Telegraph and 4% in the Courier mail. 50% have not much or no trust in The Telegraph and 48% have not much or no trust in The Herald Sun.
Overall, the most trusted newspapers were The Age (71% a lot/some trust) and the SMH (71%). The least trusted were The Telegraph (48% a lot/some trust) and the HeraldSun (50%).
Since this question was asked last year, there have been increase in trust in the Courier Mail (up 6%) and The Australian (up 5%), while the Age has declined by 5%.

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
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