Fair and balanced the audience view of media coverage of the crisis

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Professor Steve Schifferes presented a summary of his research into public trust in business journalism at a BBC Trust seminar on impartiality and economic reporting in November 2012. Professor Schifferes' research shows that the public does not trust journalists to give a fair and balanced picture of the economic crisis, and thinks there is not enough information on how the crisis will affect the jobs and incomes of ordinary people. The research was based on a poll conducted by ICM in November 2011 with a sample size of 2,000 adults.

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Presentation to BBC Trust 6 Nov 2012Steve Schifferes, Marjorie Deane Professor of Financial Journalism, City University London

The public is very concerned about the current crisis and its effect on the UK

Many people don’t believe they have been told enough to understand the crisis

People want economic coverage to relate more to their personal circumstances

There is scepticism about the independence of the media and whether it has produced fair and balanced coverage

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

VERY CLOSELY QUITE CLOSELY NOT VERY

CLOSELY

NOT AT ALL

CLOSELY

HOW CLOSELY ARE YOU FOLLOWING THE NEWS ABOUT

THE STATE OF THE UK ECONOMY?

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

2011- NOV 2008-SEPT

HOW CLOSELY ARE YOU FOLLOWING THE NEWS

ABOUT THE STATE OF THE UK ECONOMY?

CLOSELY OR VERY

CLOSELY

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

NEWS ABOUT UK INTERNATIONAL

NEWS

LOCAL NEWS ECONOMIC NEWS POLITICAL NEWS CELEBRITY NEWS BUSINESS NEWS

WHICH TYPES OF NEWS ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU?

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

AB C1 C2 DE MEN WOMEN

WHICH TYPES OF NEWS ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Economic

Business

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

BBC TV

BBC ONLINE

ITV NEWS

BBC N24

SKY NEWS

BBC RADIO NEWS

DAILY MAIL

C4 NEWS

WHICH OF THE FOLLLOWING SOURCES DO YOU USE

MONTHLY TO FOLLOW NEWS ABOUT BUSINESS AND THE

ECONOMY?

24%

15%

12%

7%

4%

BBC TV

BBC WEBSITE

BBC NEWS24

SKY NEWS

BBC RADIO

WHO WOULD YOU TURN TO FIRST FOR RELIABLE AND

TRUSTWORTHY INFORMATION IN AN ECONOMIC CRISIS?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

VERY WELL REASONABLY WELL NEITHER WELL

NOR POORLY

POORLY OR VERY

POORLY

HOW WELL DO YOU THINK YOU UNDERSTAND

CURRENT ECONOMIC EVENTS IN EUROPE AND THE UK

AND THEIR IMPACT ON YOU?

0

10

20

30

40

50

VERY

SATISFIED

FAIRLY

SATISIFIED

NEITHER FAIRLY

DISSATISFIED

VERY

DISSATISFIED

HOW SATISFIED ARE YOU WITH THE WAY THE

MEDIA HAS BEEN COVERING THE NEWS ABOUT

THE ECONOMIC SITUATION?

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

PERSONAL FINANCES

JOBS

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

COMPANIES

OTHER COUNTRIES

SHAREHOLDERS

WHICH AREAS DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE COVERED

MORE?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

JOURNALISTS GIVE A FAIR AND BALANCED

PICTURE

REPORTING ON THE ECONOMY HAS MADE

THINGS WORSE

THERE IS TOO MUCH ECONOMIC JARGON I

DON'T UNDERSTAND

JOURNALISTS ARE FORCED TO ACT

UNETHICALLY

JOURNALISTS NOT INDEPENDENT OF

BUSINESSES THEY COVER

DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING

STATEMENTS?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

JOURNALISTS GIVE A FAIR AND

BALANCED PICTURE

REPORTING ON THE ECONOMY HAS

MADE THINGS WORSE

THERE IS TOO MUCH ECONOMIC

JARGON I DON'T UNDERSTAND

JOURNALISTS ARE FORCED TO ACT

UNETHICALLY

JOURNALISTS NOT INDEPENDENT OF

BUSINESSES THEY COVER

DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING

STATEMENTS?

BBC

ALL

How can economic journalists gain the trust of the public?

How can economic coverage of big stories focus on things which more directly affect the public, such as jobs and spending cuts?

Given the strong interest in the crisis from a very diverse audience, how can economic journalists do a better job of explaining complex events in an accessible way?

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