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Despite the reliance on media to keep Australians up to date with the news, the journalism industry is viewed with much scepticism.

According to the latest Roy Morgan ‘End of Year’ survey, three-quarters (74%, up 3% in 12 months) of Australians agree that ‘media organisations are more interested in making money than in informing society’, 71% (up 4%) agree that ‘the media is not objective enough’, 63% (up 7%) agree that ‘the media is too close to politicians’ and in an indictment of journalistic ethics in this country 59% ‘don’t trust journalists to tell the truth’. Eighty-three per cent (up 5%) of Australians agree that they ‘want more in-depth analysis of the news, not just headlines’.

Nine-in-ten (90%, up 2%) Australians agree that ‘news from around the world is changing the way we think’.

When Australians want to be informed with the latest happenings, Australian television stations are still the first port of call, albeit at a reduced level to a year ago, for ‘events in Australia’ (47%, down 9%), ‘breaking news on global events’ (42%, down 12%), ‘political background and analysis of events in Australia’ (40%, down 1%) and ‘political background and analysis of global events’ (35%, down 7%).

Newspapers and magazines are the first place Australians look when seeking ‘important news from the Asia Pacific region’ (35%, up 18%) and ‘views and opinions of people like me’ (34%, up 6%).

Despite the ongoing rise of the Internet as a research and information tool, ‘official media Internet sites’ and ‘Internet blogs’ experienced only a marginal rise in popularity as a primary source of news.

Gary Morgan says:

“Although there is a heavy reliance on media organisations to inform Australians of what is happening at home and abroad, the fact that 74% agree that ‘media organisations are more interested in making money than in informing society’ raises major questions about the integrity of the entire media industry.

“Cynicism in the journalism profession is clearly evident from the results of this survey, with 71% agreeing that ‘the media is not objective enough’, 63% agreeing that ‘the media is too close to politicians’, while 59% ‘don’t trust newspaper journalists to tell the truth’.

“And despite the rise of the Internet as a research and information medium, ‘official media Internet sites’ and ‘Internet blogs’ experienced only a marginal rise in popularity as a primary source of news. Australian television stations are the first port of call for the majority of issues, albeit at a reduced level when compared to 2005.

“All those journalists involved in reporting need to be more careful distinguishing between the facts and their opinions.”

This special Roy Morgan/Gallup International telephone survey was conducted on December 1-3, 2006, with an Australia-wide cross section of 646 respondents aged 14 and over.

1. Which Media do you turn to first for Information?

Respondents were asked: “For the following types of information, which of these sources do you turn to FIRST?”

	Breaking news on global events (eg. terrorist attacks)		Events in Australia		Important news from the region	Political background and analysis of global events		Political background and analysis of events in Australia		Views and opinions of people like me
	2005	2006	2005	2006	2006	2005	2006	2005	2006	2005	2006
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Official media Internet site/digital	8	13	8	10	6	11	13	9	10	7	7
Internet blog	*	1	*	2	2	1	3	*	3	3	7
Radio	17	21	18	19	18	10	11	13	13	18	16
Australian TV stations	54	42	56	47	33	42	35	41	40	28	20
International TV stations^	14	9	5	4	3	8	11	3	2	2	1
Newspaper/ Magazine	7	12	12	17	35	24	23	28	28	28	34
Can’t say/ No answer	*	2	1	1	3	4	4	6	4	14	15
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

* Less than 0.5%
^ The 2005 “International TV stations” results includes Sky TV

Breaking news on global events (eg. Asian tsunami, Bali bombings)
For ‘breaking news on global events’, Australians predominantly turn to national TV Stations (42%, down 12% in 12 months), followed by radio (21%, up 4%), online media websites (13%, up 5%) and newspapers/magazines (12%, up 5%). Just 9% turn to international TV stations such as CNN and the BBC.

Events in Australia
Forty-seven per cent (down 9%) of Australians say national TV stations are their first destination when seeking information relating to ‘events in Australia’, followed by radio (19%, up 1%) and newspapers/magazines (17%, up 5%).

Important news from the region
For ‘important news from the Asia Pacific region’, the most popular first source is newspapers/magazines (35%), trailed closely by national TV stations (33%). Radio is the third most popular source for regional news with 18%.

Political background and analysis of global events
For ‘political background and analysis of global events’, 35% (down 7%) of Australians turn first to national TV stations, with 23% (down 1%) turning to newspapers/magazines and 13% (up 2%) turning to official online media websites.

Political background and analysis of events in Australia
Similarly to ‘political background and analysis of global events’, Australians turn to national TV stations (40%, down 1%) and newspapers/magazines (28%, unchanged) as their first source of information for ‘political background and analysis of events in Australia’.

Views and opinions of people like me
Australians turn to newspapers/magazines (34%, up 6%) first for ‘views and opinions of people like me’, followed by national TV stations (20%, down 8%) and the radio (16%, down 2%).

2. Media in Australia: Agree/Disagree statements

Respondents were then asked: “Do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements.”

	Agree		Disagree		Can’t say
	2005	2006	2005	2006	2005	2006
	%	%	%	%	%	%
News from around the world is changing the way we think	88	90	11	9	1	1
I want more in-depth analysis of the news, not just headlines	78	83	20	15	2	2
Media organisations are more interested in making money than in informing society	71	74	22	20	7	6
The media is not objective enough	67	71	28	24	5	5
The media is too close to politicians	56	63	38	31	6	6
I don’t trust journalists to tell the truth	*	59	*	32	*	9
Media overall is a force for good in the world	60	58	32	34	8	8
I trust more small media organisations or bloggers than big media organisations	50	49	38	38	12	13
I trust media organisations that have an opinion similar to mine	40	42	55	50	5	8
I distrust big international TV chains such as BBC, CNN	34	37	55	50	11	13
I don’t trust newspaper journalists to tell the truth	63	^	30	^	7	^
I don’t trust talk-back radio hosts to tell the truth	57	^	32	^	11	^
I don’t trust TV reporters to tell the truth	53	^	38	^	9	^

* Not asked in 2005
^ Not asked in 2006

As was the case in 2005, Australians overwhelmingly agree (90%, up 2% in 12 months) that ‘news from around the world is changing the way we think’, however, more than four-in-five (83%, up 5%) Australians agree that they ‘want more in depth analysis of the news, not just headlines’.

In what is a blight on the journalism profession, three-in-five (59%) Australians agree that they ‘don’t trust journalists to tell the truth’, 32% disagree and 9% can’t say. Similarly, almost three-quarters of Australians (71%, up 4%) believe ‘the Media is not objective enough’, while 63% (up 7%) agree that ‘the Media is too close to politicians’.

Although a majority of Australians (58%, down 2%) agree that the ‘media overall is a force for good in the world’, more than seven-in-ten Australians (74%, up 3%) agree that ‘media organisations are more interested in making money than in informing society’.

Just under half of the Australian population (49%, down 1%) ‘trust more small media organisations or bloggers rather than big media organisations’, while 37% (up 3%) agree with the statement ‘I distrust big international TV chains such as the BBC and CNN’, while 50% (down 5%) disagree.

Forty-two per cent (up 2%) of Australians agree with the statement ‘I trust Media organisations that have an opinion similar to mine’, while 50% (down 5%) disagree and 8% (up 3%) can’t say.

Margin of Error

The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. The following table gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. The figures are approximate and for general guidance only, and assume a simple random sample. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.

Sample Size	Percentage Estimate
	40%-60%	25% or 75%	10% or 90%	5% or 95%
500	±4.5	±3.9	±2.7	±1.9
1,000	±3.2	±2.7	±1.9	±1.4

Roy Morgan International

With offices in London, New York, Princeton, Jakarta, Auckland and throughout Australia, Roy Morgan International is a truly global market research company.  Roy Morgan International is the provider of the world’s most extensive and only true single source survey and owner of Asteroid, the leading market research survey analysis software.

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