Recent reports that trust in media has decreased again to just 27% reflects a troubling trend. Yet the Government’s recently released proposals to address this lack of confidence with further regulation will fail. Increased Government oversight will further damage confidence in media, not strengthen it, says Jonathan Ayling, Chief Executive of the Free Speech Union.

“The premise of the Government's media proposals is that if we expand the remit of the Broadcasting Standards Authority, including independent and online media under it, this will increase confidence. However, trust in the BSA is little more than the paltry trust in media.

“Just one-in-three Kiwis believe mainstream media is trustworthy. Even less than that (27%) agree the news media is independent of undue political or government influence most of the time, while almost half disagree.

“Likewise, in recent polling conducted for the Free Speech Union by Curia Market Research, only 32% of respondents expressed high trust in the Broadcasting Standards Authority, 26% say they have high trust in the Advertising Standards Authority, and only 19% in the Media Council. Each of these were offset with a majority of respondents in either the neutral response, or low trust. 9%, 21%, and 15% responded unsure, respectively.

“How does the Government think that expanding regulations to encompass independent media, will help this?

“Journalism plays a crucial role in preserving open debate and public discourse. A free and independent media ensures that not only a range of topics are covered, but that there’s not a single authority deciding what is covered and how.

“If trust in media is going to return, Kiwis need to see transparency in reporting, and independence from political and ideological influence. Trust will not increase with further regulation, especially from authorities in which the majority of Kiwis already have low trust.”

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