Polling organisation Globescan found a strong demand for news and an increasing awareness and use of internet news sources.
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MEDIA TRUST POLL
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Almost three-quarters of people (72%) said they followed the news closely every day, with national TV (82%) and national or regional newspapers (75%) the most trusted news outlets, according to the poll.
Online news sources were the first choice among 19% of 18-24 year-olds, compared to just 3% of those aged 55-64.
Retaining trust
Overall levels of trust in the media have risen in the past four years, the poll suggests.
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Tech-savvy youth are moving away from traditional news outlets - seen as irrelevant to their lives
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Results varied across the range of countries surveyed. Trust in journalists was highest in Nigeria (88%, with 34% trusting the government), Indonesia (86% v 71%), India (82% v 66%) and Egypt (74%; government question not asked).
Only in three countries did governments score higher than the media. In the US, 67% said they trusted the government compared with 59% prepared to put their trust in the media.
In the UK 51% trusted their government (media 47%) and in Germany 48% trusted officials (media 43%).
The three other countries surveyed were Russia, South Korea and Brazil, where just 30% said they trusted the government version of events.
However, the survey suggests that retaining trust is getting harder.
More than one quarter, or 28%, said they had stopped using a news source within the past 12 months because they had lost trust in its content.
Urban males aged 18-24 were found to be the group most likely to stop using one particular news source.
Global reach
While TV and newspapers remain dominant around the world, many consumers are developing a more nuanced approach to the media.
Some 77% prefer to check several news sources rather than simply rely on one, a habit particularly evident online.
Blogs are among the online sources that people are consulting, although few place ultimate trust in their content: 25% said they trusted blogs, with almost the same number (23%) distrusting them.
Just 3% of all respondents said blogs were their main news source. The only exception to this trend was in South Korea (17%), where online news is highly popular.
About one-third of South Koreans (34%) consider the internet to be their primary source of news, considerably ahead of the second-ranked US, where 14% choose to go online first.
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Blogs are not about providing people with carefully sorted and sifted news
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Overall, 56% of those asked said TV news remained their first port of call. Newspapers came second, with 21%.
The most trusted media outlets around the world were large global news organisations such as the BBC or CNN.
Internationally, 48% said they trusted the BBC, while 44% backed CNN.
Younger web brands were also shown to have won significant public trust: Google (30%), Yahoo! (28%) and Microsoft/MSN (27%).
The Globescan poll was commissioned to coincide with the We Media global forum taking place in London from 3 to 4 May. The forum brings together major media companies with developers and bloggers from around the world.
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