Survey in wake of phone-hacking scandal finds only 14% of respondents trust red-tops 'to do what is right'

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

Almost 70% of the British public distrust red-top tabloids in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, according to a new survey.

In a study of 2,100 UK adults in January, 68% of respondents said they did not trust red-tops – including the Daily Star, the Daily Mirror and the Sun – "to do what is right".

However, faith in the UK media overall actually rose 15% last year among a separate group of 5,600 adults who described themselves as university-educated people who regularly follow the news.

The Edelman Trust Barometer, published on Tuesday, is an annual survey that measures Britons' trust in the government, business, media and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). US firm Edelman is one of the biggest global PR and communications groups.

This is the first time that Edelman has asked a representative sample of UK adults about how much they trust the media, so year-on-year comparisons are unavailable.

Ed Williams, chief executive of Edelman UK, said the survey shows "a separation between TV and radio, serious news including broadsheet newspapers, and social media and tabloid papers at the other end of the scale".

He added: "Those who said their trust in media had decreased cited 'phone-[hacking] stories', 'scandal' and 'politics' – those were the trends."

Just 14% of the group of 2,100 adults trust red-top newspapers "to do what is right", according to the survey, as trust in quality titles and TV news also suffered a decline.

The huge fall leaves red-tops trailing behind social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, as information sources that the public trust in this way.

Edelman's study suggests that broadcasters including the BBC and Sky News are among the most trusted media organisations, ahead of quality titles such as the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph.

Trust in media organisations (click for bigger image). Photograph: Edelman

Almost 58% of those surveyed said they trust the broadcasters, compared with 47% for quality titles and 39% for "online news sources", such as the Huffington Post.

Only 26% of respondents said they trust mid-market newspapers, including the Daily Mail and Daily Express, while 45% said they distrust them.

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