Essential Report, journalists, Polling, trust in media
Q. How much trust do you have in the following media commentators and journalists?
| Total know them | Total a lot/some trust | Total not much/no trust | A lot of trust | Some trust | Not much trust | No trust | Not sure | ||
| Laurie Oakes | 85% | 75% | 17% | 33% | 42% | 11% | 6% | 8% | |
| George Negus | 91% | 75% | 16% | 27% | 48% | 12% | 4% | 9% | |
| Tony Jones | 52% | 54% | 29% | 16% | 38% | 18% | 11% | 17% | |
| Michelle Grattan | 42% | 47% | 34% | 13% | 34% | 22% | 12% | 20% | |
| Andrew Bolt | 52% | 43% | 42% | 13% | 30% | 18% | 24% | 15% | |
| Neil Mitchell | 48% | 42% | 40% | 10% | 32% | 21% | 19% | 19% | |
| Jon Faine | 33% | 38% | 40% | 9% | 29% | 26% | 14% | 22% | |
| Alan Jones | 84% | 38% | 49% | 9% | 29% | 16% | 33% | 13% |
The best-known media commentators and journalists were George Negus (91%), Laurie Oakes (85%) and Alan Jones (84%).
Laurie Oakes and George Negus were the most trusted and Alan Jones the least trusted.
(Note: respondents who did not know of each commentator/journalist have been excluded from the above table).
Essential Report, personal information, Polling, polls, trust, trust in leaders, trust in media
Q. Thinking about your personal information that you sometimes have to give to organisations and companies, how much trust do you have in following organisations to handle your personal information appropriately?
| A lot of trust | Some trust | Little trust | No trust | Don’t know | |
| The medical profession | 39% | 40% | 12% | 7% | 2% |
| Banks | 19% | 40% | 27% | 13% | 2% |
| Governments | 12% | 38% | 28% | 20% | 2% |
| Australian companies | 6% | 43% | 35% | 13% | 2% |
| On-line companies | 2% | 25% | 41% | 29% | 3% |
| Political parties | 2% | 20% | 34% | 40% | 4% |
| Foreign companies | 1% | 18% | 36% | 41% | 4% |
| The media | 2% | 14% | 35% | 47% | 2% |
Of the organisations measured, the medical profession is the most trusted to handle personal information (79% a lot/some trust). Banks (59%) are trusted more that Governments (50%) or Australian companies (49%).
The media are the least trusted with 82% saying they have little or no trust in them.
People aged under 35 tend to be more trustful with their personal information – especially with Governments (58% a lot/some trust), banks (69%) and on-line companies (35%).
ABC radio, ABC TV, Commercial radio, Commercial TV, Daily newspapers, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, media, News, Polling, polls, SBS, Sky News, the media, 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%).
ABC, Blogs, free-to-air TV, media, News, Newspapers, pay TV, SBS, the media, trust in media
Q. Please rate your level of trust in the news and information from each source.
|
|
Total always/usually trustworthy |
Always trustworthy |
Usually trustworthy |
Seldom trustworthy |
I do not trust it at all |
Don’t know |
| ABC TV news | 82% | 21% | 61% | 7% | 3% | 8% |
| SBS TV news | 78% | 19% | 59% | 8% | 2% | 12% |
| ABC radio news | 78% | 18% | 60% | 8% | 3% | 12% |
| Commercial (free-to-air) TV news | 69% | 5% | 64% | 20% | 6% | 5% |
| Internet news sites – e.g. newspaper sites, ABC, etc | 66% | 5% | 61% | 18% | 4% | 12% |
| Newspapers | 65% | 3% | 62% | 22% | 7% | 6% |
| Commercial radio news | 62% | 4% | 58% | 19% | 8% | 11% |
| Pay TV news | 48% | 4% | 44% | 14% | 6% | 32% |
| Internet blogs | 17% | 1% | 16% | 31% | 26% | 26% |
The most trusted news sources were ABC TV news (82%), ABC radio news (78%) and SBS TV news (78%).
The least trustworthy were internet blogs (57% seldom/no trust), newspapers (29%), commercial radio news (27%) and commercial TV news (26%).
Women were more likely than men to trust commercial TV news (75%/62%), newspapers (68%/63%) and commercial radio news (68%/55%). Comments »
ABC, Channel 10, Channel 7, Channel 9, media, News, Sky News, the media, trust, trust in media
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 »
media, privacy, the media, trust in media
Q. There have been some recent situations where a politician has resigned from their position or their party after some aspects of their sexual behaviour were made public by the media. Is it appropriate for the media to reveal details of a political figure’s private life?
| Yes, in all circumstances | 12% |
| Yes, in some circumstances | 42% |
| No, not at all | 38% |
| Don’t know | 8% |
A majority (54%) believe it is appropriate for the media to reveal details of a political figure’s personal life in some or all circumstances. 12% think details should be revealed in all circumstances and 42% in some circumstances. 38% say details of a political figure’s personal life should not be revealed at all. 64% of Liberal/National voters and 50% of Labor voters approved revealing details of political figure’s personal life in some or all circumstances. Greens voters were split 50% some/all, 50% not at all. There were no substantial demographic differences. Comments »
media, the media, trust in media
If answered “in some circumstances” –
Q. Is it appropriate for the media to reveal details of a political figure’s private life in any of the following circumstances?
| Yes | No | Don’t know | |
| Where there is a public interest due to impact on the politician’s work or taxpayers’ resources | 92% | 5% | 3% |
| Where the politician has acted in a way clearly at odds with their publicly expressed views | 88% | 8% | 4% |
| Where a politician’s personal choices are unusual or not considered mainstream | 20% | 67% | 14% |
Sample = 457
The majority of those who approved revealing details in some circumstances agreed that details could be revealed where there is a public interest due to impact on the politician’s work or taxpayers’ resources (92%) or where the politician has acted in a way clearly at odds with their publicly expressed views (88%). However, revealing details where a politician’s personal choices are unusual or not considered mainstream was only acceptable to 20%. Comments »
ABC, Blogs, Internet, media, News, Newspapers, Radio, trust in media
Q. How much trust do you have in what you read or hear in the following media?
| A lot | Some | Not much | None | Don’t know/use | |
| ABC TV news and current affairs | 25% | 45% | 14% | 3% | 13% |
| ABC radio news and current affairs | 20% | 42% | 15% | 4% | 19% |
| Commercial TV news and current affairs | 9% | 55% | 26% | 5% | 5% |
| News and opinion in daily newspapers | 9% | 53% | 26% | 4% | 7% |
| Commercial radio news and current affairs | 7% | 47% | 29% | 6% | 10% |
| ABC radio talkback programs | 6% | 39% | 24% | 5% | 25% |
| News and opinion websites | 5% | 44% | 31% | 6% | 15% |
| Commercial radio talkback programs | 3% | 35% | 32% | 11% | 19% |
| Internet blogs | 2% | 18% | 40% | 15% | 25% |
ABC TV and radio news and current affairs were the most trusted media (25% and 20% respectively have a lot of trust).
Commercial TV news and current affairs programs have the highest consumption, but only 9% say they have a lot of trust in them.
And although consumption of newspapers and internet news sites is very similar, newspapers are considered more trustworthy (62% compared to 49% have a lot/some trust in them). Comments »