In New Zealand only one other group is as tone deaf as the politicians: the woke legacy media, who were so shell shocked at academic research in New Zealand showing that trust in media has fallen alarmingly that when the news first broke they blamed their lying audience.
Over the past five years the most comprehensive annual survey of New Zealanders’ trust in news – carried out by AUT’s Centre for Journalism Media and Democracy – has recorded a 20 percent slump.
In April the latest Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand report found trust in news in general tumbled from 42 percent in 2023 to just 33 percent this year.
The proportion of people who actively avoided the news “to some extent” grew from 69 percent in 2023 to a whopping 75 percent in 2024.
The bad news for the media was widely reported in the media at the time. Politicians and pundits and citizens alike picked up on it too.
RNZ
Now they’ve taken a deep breath and commissioned their own surveys – to prove the academics wrong.
But since then some better results have gone mostly under the media radar.
Last month an independent report [PDF] into the state of New Zealand media for the Ministry for Culture and Heritage surveyed more than 2000 people over 18.
Forty-eight percent agreed “news reporting is fair and balanced.” Forty-three percent of people agreed that media organisations are trustworthy.
But a healthier 57 percent agreed that “news reporting is trustworthy”.
Last month RNZ said its own latest survey of its performance showed “New Zealanders are increasingly aware of the value of public media and appreciative of its role”.
Fifteen-hundred New Zealanders surveyed in early May found trust in RNZ up from 44 percent last year to 47 percent this year.
Sixty-one percent agreed that RNZ provides a valuable service, up from 54 percent in 2023 – the biggest proportion of people to say so since the survey in its current form began in 2018, according to RNZ.
RNZ was also among six of 58 state agencies to record the strong improvements in reputation in the 2024 Public Sector Reputation Index [PDF] carried out by polling company Verian, who surveyed 3500 people in March.
In the same month, pollster Emanuel Kalafatelis from Research New Zealand surveyed 1000 people for his regular slot on Sunday Morning on RNZ National. He found strong demand for local news and also increasing worry about people losing trust in it.
“We fully expected a swing away from television for news and current affairs, towards online and other digital platforms, but the poll results were consistent across age groups,” he said.
Media outlets all need an audience that’ll keep coming back, but at the moment trust is an acute concern for them because the entire industry has deep financial problems. They could use the support of the public, as well as the government, which is right now pondering policy that might help them.
RNZ
I’ll bet you the questions were not the same as the JMAD survey, which at least was compiled by ‘academics’.
Sure enough, we see the questions were loaded and not at all the same.
We certainly can’t trust a survey that has been specifically carried out to prove that the people who carried out that survey are trustworthy and worth giving lots of money to. It’s not like they were ever going to say anything else, is it?
RadioNZ is constantly on the grift from government for increased funding, so they need evidence that they are ‘valued’ and ‘trusted’ so they can grift even more.
What’s the bet the next survey we hear about will be conducted by the Maori Party – looking at whether people trust John Tamihere or not. Does anyone want to guess the answer?
Can we trust RNZ? Nope, they are left-wing shills. They aren’t nicknamed Red Radio for nothing. This new survey just cements that belief in my mind.
Help Keep The BFD Alive
Expenses are growing, ad revenue is shrinking. Things have to change otherwise we will need to cut services. We don’t want to have to do that. It’s really up to you.
- For security reasons, credit card donations require Javascript. Please enable Javascript in your browser before continuing.
Your Donation
Your Recurring Donation
Donation Period *
Your One-Time Donation
Details First Name * Last Name * Email * Address Address 2 City State Postcode Country Afghanistan Åland Islands Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belau Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo (Brazzaville) Congo (Kinshasa) Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba CuraÇao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Republic of Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin (French part) Saint Martin (Dutch part) Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia/Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom (UK) United States (US) Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican Venezuela Vietnam Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Western Samoa Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Phone Number Payment Name on Card * .StripeElement { border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 1em; } #charitable_stripe_card_errors { color: #eb1c26; font-size: .8em; margin: .5em 0 0 0; } Credit/Debit Card Donate
Please share this article so others can discover The BFD.
