Trust in journalists is not declining – it has always been low, according to an Ipsos Mori poll exclusively revealed to Press Gazette.
A face-to-face survey of 2,000 adults in Great Britain found just 19 per cent trusted journalists to tell the truth.
In 1983, the figure was also 19 per cent. In the past six years, the figure has been within three percentage points of 18 per cent.
Journalists were ranked lower than politicians (21 per cent) and government ministers (24 per cent).
More men trusted journalists (24 per cent) than women (15 per cent).
Last year, a British Journalism Review survey found trust in journalists was falling, with local newspaper journalists, in particular, faring badly.
Top of the pile in Ipsos Mori’s trust poll were doctors (92 per cent), teachers (87 per cent), and professors (79 per cent).
The poll also found 90 per cent of Daily Telegraph, Times, and Guardian readers trust their newspaper to tell the truth, compared to 66 per cent of Daily Mail and Daily Express readers, 55 per cent of Daily Mirror readers, and 30 per cent of Sun and News of the World readers.
Mori founder Sir Robert Worcester said: “It is a media myth that people are losing trust generally. In the 25 years that Mori has measured the public’s view of the ‘veracity’ of these types of people, most have remained stable.”
The poll was carried out between 13 and 18 November last year.
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