Tabloid newspapers are ranked bottom when it comes to accuracy, impartiality and trust with The Sun in last place for all three, according to a survey commissioned by the BBC.
Asked to rate news brands out of ten, a sample of 900 Britons aged 15 and over and said to “follow news” put broadcasters and broadsheet newspapers top, with the BBC the most highly rated on average.
Facebook and Twitter were ahead of bottom placed news titles The Sun (Britain’s best-selling newspaper) and Daily Star on trust and accuracy, the Ipsos Mori poll revealed.
When it came to impartiality, Facebook was ahead of the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Star and Sun while Twitter was ahead of these plus the Daily Express and Sunday People.
MSN News and Yahoo News were ranked ahead of all mid-market and tabloid newspapers for trust, accuracy and impartiality.
The Financial Times was the highest-rated newspaper. Al Jazeera was the lowest rated broadcaster.
A larger sample of more than 1,800 Britons aged 15 and over who follow the news put the BBC top by a sizeable margin for accuracy, trust and impartiality when asked to pick just one news source.
Some 57 per cent of respondents said the BBC asked was the one source they were “most likely to turn to” for news they could “trust the most”.
ITV was the corporation’s nearest rival at 11 per cent, while Facebook and quality daily newspaper titles (including Sunday editions) such as the Times sat at 1 per cent.
It was an almost identical picture when respondents were asked which one source they would turn to for “accurate news coverage”, although the BBC’s vote share fell to 50 per cent when the same question was asked about “impartial news coverage”.
The survey was carried out between 27 January and 7 February this year and the data has been weighted to reflect a “nationally representative profile of the UK”, according to the BBC.
It said: “The survey was designed to understand the range of scores that the public gives to news providers in terms of trust and impartiality, and how the BBC performs in comparison with the wider market.”
A Sun spokesperson said: “The Sun remains Britain’s best-selling newspaper for a reason – because every week, millions of readers put their faith and trust in us. They know we’re on their side more than any other.”
Picture: Reuters/Toby Melville
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