Tune in, drop out

We don't trust the news like we used W to. That much was evident in the recently published "Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand 2023", the fourth such survey from the AUT Research Centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy.

- RUSSELL BROWN

We're not alone in this - it's an international phenomenon - but the study's authors noted that whereas trust in news media has fluctuated against a downward trend in many other countries, in New Zealand it's been all downhill since their first report in 2020. 

The survey asked respondents to mark 17 local news brands on a simple 0-10 scale, "where 0 was not trustworthy at all and 10 completely trustworthy". Since 2020, trust in every one of those brands has decreased, and in general, the most prominent names in news have suffered the worst. Trust in RNZ and Newstalk ZB has slumped the most - declining 14.5% and 14% respectively - while smaller outfits such as Business Desk and interest. co.nz have held up better.