The BBC’s Robert Peston has been named as the number one most rated journalist by both journalists themselves and the general public in an exclusive Press Gazette survey.
For the December edition, Press Gazette asked 50 journalists and 1,000 members of the public (in a weighted national survey) to name their favourite business and finance journalist.
Peston was the runaway winner, followed by Martin Lewis of Moneysavingexpert.com and then Martin Wolf of the Financial Times. Jeff Randall of Sky News was in fourth position, followed by Gillian Tett, also of the FT.
Peston said: “I could not be more thrilled to be voted top by the public and by fellow hacks. When you have been in the trade for as long as I have – just over 25 years – there is no greater honour.”
When asked which journalists he rates, Peston said: “The standard of business journalism in the UK is as high as I can remember in my ludicrously long career, largely because there has been a belated awakening by news organisations that business and economics really matter.”
The Times had the most journalists in the top 50, with nine, followed by the Financial Times and the BBC – both on six.
The BBC was named by the public as their most trusted source of news about business – taking 30 per cent of the votes.
The next most trusted source of business news for the public was the Financial Times – showing that its reputation among the UK public far out-punches its 130,000 circulation. The FT was the favourite source of business news amongst journalists.
Full details of this unique survey are in Press Gazette magazine, which is only available to subscribers.
This includes: The full list of the top 50 business and finance journalists; the top ten most trusted business and finance news organisations among the general public; the top business brands as rated by journalists and the top business news sources as rated by journalists.
To subscribe to Press Gazette call 01858 438872.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
