Trust in Journalism : falling in love again

What will it take for audiences to trust news media?

This research examined the state of trust in news media, in Australia and beyond. It comprised desktop research and workshops.

The desktop research involved creating an annotated bibliography of the academic literature, available here.

The workshops held in Tamworth and Sydney in May 2018, asked three key questions. First, which news sources do participants use and trust? Second, why do they use and trust those sources? And third, building on the answers to questions one and two, is it possible to design a news source that users are more likely to trust?

The workshops are discussed in our report titled Trust and News Media in Australia: A Quantitative Study, available here. They are also the subject of an academic paper: ‘More top-down than peer-to-peer: talking to Australians about their ideal news source’, published in Media International Australia in 2020. Find it here.

This project connects with the Centre’s ongoing work into journalistic ethics, regulatory oversight of news media and public interest journalism.

The project was funded by the Facebook Journalism Project as part of its work with the Asia Pacific News Literacy Group.

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.