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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?
