Public Trust in the News: A Comparative Study of NTA, AIT and Channels
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Date
2014-12
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
CENTREPOINT JOURNAL - Humanities Edition
Abstract
Access to information is a prerequisite to the operation of a functional society. Equally important is the existence of a news media that promotes reports that are honest, accurate, comprehensive, fair and balance, it uses an analysis that is informed and based on facts about people, events and institutions. Consequently, survey and interview were employed as research designs to ascertain the level of publics’ trust in the news they receive from three broadcast media namely; NTA, Channels and AIT. A sample of 200 respondents was randomly selected for the survey while 15 people were used for the in-depth interview. Data reveal that most (53%) Nigerians always trust news stories as reported by some media outfits. However, the level of trust varies among the three television stations, NTA (16%), Channels (60%) and AIT (24%). It concludes that the trust deficit among media outfits is a product of several factors including extraneous influence. This research suggests among other things the need for more responsible journalism that could earn news public trust.
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Keywords
Trust,, News,, News commercialisation,, Credibility, journalism