Journalists fare very badly in the opinion of the public. Some 24% say they trust TV journalists while 64% say they do not, giving a net score of minus 40.
Meanwhile, 17% say they trust newspaper journalists, while 72% say they do not, giving an overall net score of minus 55.
In another poll by the Press Gazette a total of 1,020 people responded to the question: “Do you think journalists have done a good job of holding the Government to account during the daily UK Covid-19 press briefings?” which ran on Press Gazette for one week.
In response, 718 said “no” (70 per cent), while 302 said “yes” (30 per cent).
In another recent Press Gazette poll, almost half of more than 1,000 respondents said they believed public trust in journalists has fallen since the coronavirus outbreak began, more than any other option.
Alongside this the UK slips down World Press Freedom rankings.
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres – RSF) has placed the UK at 35 out of 180 countries in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
The UK was 33rd in last year’s rankings, an improvement on 40th place where it had sat for the last two years.
Jason Cridland
