Trusting less, avoiding more

AUT’s Trust in Media survey is bad news for media, and democracy :

. . . Since our first Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand report was published in 2020, general trust in news in Aotearoa New Zealand has declined. In 2020, 53% of New Zealanders trusted news in general. In 2023, the same figure was 42%. In December 2022, a NZ Herald poll revealed that New Zealanders considered media (38%) as the most untrustworthy institution of those sampled. . . 

Trust in news in New Zealand
• In 2023, general trust in news in New Zealand continued to fall (-3%), but trust in news people themselves consumed increased slightly, indicating that people trust the news they choose themselves the most.

• In 2023, general trust in news declined from 45% to 42%. However, trust in news people consume themselves increased from 52% to 53%.

• From 2020-2023, general trust in news fell by 11%, and trust in news people consume themselves fell by 9% (table 1).

• In 2023, major news brands suffered a considerable decline in trust. Trust in RNZ fell 14.5%, Whakaata Māori 14.3% and Newstalk ZB 14%. Smaller brands such as interest.co.nz, BusinessDesk and Crux were less impacted (table 4).

• In 2023, RNZ, the Otago Daily Times and TVNZ were equally regarded as the most trusted news brands. In 2022, RNZ was the most trusted news brand followed by the other two. In 2023, the top three were followed by interest.co.nz, NBR, Newshub and Newsroom. . . 

Not only is there more distrust of media, more people are avoiding news:

• In 2023, we asked New Zealanders for the first time about news avoidance. Approximately 69% of those surveyed said that they actively avoid news often (11%), and 58% sometimes or occasionally.
• When compared internationally, news avoidance in New Zealand is on a higher level than in other comparable markets (figure 2).

Why are people avoiding news ?

The reasons people say they avoid the news are familiar: news feels depressing and biased, and it increases anxiety. Many of those responding found news repetitive, boring and overly dramatic. Many commented that “same news keeps circulating in different channels” making them avoid certain news/news channels.

There’s an irony that we have far greater access to news, almost anywhere and everywhere at any time but we trust it less and avoid it more.

So much that is reported is, as respondents to the survey said,  depressing, biased, repetitive, boring and overly dramatic.

I’d add unbalanced, too much attempting to tell us what to think and how to feel, and too much insertion of opinion in what ought to be straight reporting as reasons to trust less and avoid more.

That’s not good for the media, when competition for the advertising dollars that sustain it is so fierce, and it’s not good for democracy.

If the fourth estate isn’t healthy, where will we get news we can trust?

If the fourth estate isn’t healthy, who will tell the stories some don’t want to be told?

If the fourth estate isn’t healthy, and trusted who will be holding the powerful to account?