Trust in the Indian media is down sharply by 15 percentage points over the last two years. One out of every two Indians distrusts what they read, see, and listen but—surprise, surprise, OK, no surprise, no surprise!—trust in magazines* is higher than for newspapers, TV news or radio.
These, in short, are the major highlights of the 2011 survey by Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm. The 11th such survey conducted, the media is the biggest loser in India among the four sectors surveyed, other three sectors being business, government and NGOs.
There were 5,075 respondents in 23 countries for the annual Edelman Trust Barometer. The India section of the survey was conducted between October 11 and November 24, 2010 before the Niira Radia tapes altered the perception of media personnel even more in the eyes of news consumers.
Trust in Indian magazines is at 95% against 93% for newspapers, 90% for TV news, and 81% for radio. The barometer reported a 25% dip in trust in business magazines and TV news, and a 21% dip in trust in newspapers, in 2009, in the wake of paid news, private treaties, medianet and other infirmities.
Online search engines like Google command 93% trust, indicating that most people prefer to search for the facts themselves and trust search engines to help them. Corporate communications such as press releases, reports, and emails show trust levels of 86%.
Interesting if true.
Two years ago, the national election survey 2009 by the Lokniti team of the centre for study of developing societies (CSDS) found that 45% Indians greatly trusted what they read in newspapers, and a similar number somewhat trusted newspaper reports.
* Disclosures apply
Also read: If you trust polls, trust in India dips
Tags: Barkha Dutt, Churumuri, Edelman, Google, Neera Radia, Niira Radia, Nira Radia, Prabhu Chawla, Sans Serif, Vir Sanghvi
12 February 2011 at 8:15 am
I don’t trust indian news media at all… It be foolish to rely on Barka datta, Pranab and their colleagues for truth. They are sold.
12 February 2011 at 3:06 pm
who trusts indian new media/journalists ?????? This includes churumuri as well.
12 February 2011 at 4:33 pm
The trust level is still at a much lower level than what has been brought about in the study, going by the phenomenon of the cash for news syndrome and other attendant tendencies
13 February 2011 at 4:02 pm
the 1950-60′s : The Hindu, Indian Express, Sport and Pastime,The Illustrated Weekly Of India
the Late 70′ to the end of 1980′s: India Today and Business Magazines where most readers made money which was legit.
Since then: What do I say——–Nothing to say.
Today —–YouTube and catch up with Old Movies not seen since The 1040′s. Total Satisfaction.
14 February 2011 at 7:40 am
News anywhere is biased. More advanced a country gets less truthful news becomes. Compare India’s news with US news.
14 February 2011 at 9:56 am
The Colonel is always succinct. :) Good going sir.
There is no trust in business. The concept of good faith is extinct. Today society deals in contracts. The culture of money has unseated other determinants of behaviour. Why should journalism be an exception when God herself can be reduced to an agreement?
Half is still too much. Another round of Radiagate seems to be in order.