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  • Aug, 2013

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    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%).

  • Jan, 2013

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    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%.

  • Jun, 2012

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    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.

  • Jun, 2012

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    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.

  • Jun, 2012

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    They Slashed Their Own Pay, Too, Didn’t They? NOT!!!

    You know how it goes–a company is in financial trouble, it slashes jobs to save money and, of course, the CEOs take a hit along with the regular workers. Slap, slap, slap–wake up! You’re not in Alice-in-Wonderland world. You’re in the real world, the wondrous “free market” where CEO salaries never go down, no matter how bad they screw up. Which brings us to the saga of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.

    The Herald’s management announced it was going to sack–we prefer not using the Orwellian word “redundant”, since it has a way of making the whole thing sound so neutral and mild–1,900 people, for an alleged savings, along with other measures (principally, making people pay for access to the website) of $235 million by 2015. But, not a problem for chief executive Greg Hywood, who is not taking a financial hit and is doing quite well, thank you very much:

    Mr McCarthy’s replacement, Greg Hywood, got $1.5 million for his six months in the job last financial year, while he is now eligible for a bonus of 150 per cent of his $1.6 million base salary.

    Not to mention the deep pockets of one mining billionaire named Gina who is determined, we think, to wake up one shining day to be greeted with the banner headline “Sydney Mining Herald.”

    Not to be outdone in the shameless category, The Australian is going to slash 70 percent of its divisions–but somehow the Rupe found $2 billion to double his takes in Foxtel. But, have we heard of any cuts at all in Rupe’s pay ($33 million USD in 2011) or any of his other top underlings. We find out a little more of the life the Rupe leads, while he’s cutting the pay of others, from this wet-kiss profile of Wendi Deng (Murdoch) in The New York Times:

    She used to wash her clothes and face with the same soap, said a 2008 Vogue article, and seldom wore makeup, much less luxuriated in the perks of privilege — like the private yoga classes with her friends Kathy Freston and Arianna Huffington — she indulges in today. At Yale, she would stake out Filene’s Basement to procure designer gowns on the cheap. Today, she is regularly photographed wearing Rodarte and Prada.

    Mrs. Murdoch quickly and giddily embraced the trappings of great wealth. While her husband conducted business in various European capitals, she would travel with him and shop for glassware and cutlery and curtains to stock her new homes. In addition to their loft in SoHo, the Murdochs transformed an old hutong in Beijing into a courtyard oasis decorated with art by Chinese artists.

    So, there it is: cuts are paid because of “changing conditions” or “new markets” or “new realities” but the story remains the same. The rich rob the workers who create the wealth–and, when things get rocky, the only people taking it in the chin are the very people who had nothing to do with creating the mess.

    –Jonathan Tasini

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