Public opinion on the BBC and BBC News
November 2011 Trust
Accuracy and impartiality
Range of perspectives
Cross-media insight data
Title 2 People have high expectations of the BBC in terms of impartiality, internal plurality and providing for all. They also have higher expectations of the BBC in terms of its behaviour than they do of other broadcasters
To what extent do you agree or disagree with:
Net Agree 87% 90% 91% 55% 100% 90% 21%
80% 43% 50% 70% 55% 60% 34% 50% 40% 49% 20% 30% 32% 40% 20% 16% 10% 8% 4% 5% 8% 2% 4% 1% 0% 2% 1% 2% 1% Being impartial should alw ays be The BBC should air all kinds of The BBC should provide BBC programmes should have at the heart of w hat the BBC view s and opinions, even if some something that suits different higher standards of morality, stands for* people find them challenging* people's tastes and interests, values and behaviour than those even if not everything is of of other broadcasters+ interest to me personally*
Don't know Strongly disagree Tend to disagree Neither agree nor disagree Tend to agree Strongly agree
Question: *Using this scale, please say the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements [statements as per chart] Question: +How much do you agree or disagree with the statement ‘BBC programmes should have higher standards of morality, values and behaviour than those of other broadcasters’ Source: *Ipsos MORI for the BBC, 1,024 UK adults 15+, August 2010. +Ipsos MORI for the BBC, 2,206 UK adults 16+, 2009 Title 3 Accuracy, being up to date and trustworthiness are the most important factors that influence people’s choice of news provider
To what extent, if at all, do the following qualities influence your choice of news provider? % saying ‘a great deal’
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Gives accurate information 58% Provides up-to-date news 56% Is trustworthy 54% Provides high quality news coverage 51% Is a reputable news provider 49% Is impartial / unbiased 46% Covers national stories 44% Covers a wide range of news stories 43% Is easy to understand 39% Is easy to use 39% Covers global stories 38% Covers global, local and national angles of stories 38% Gives me in-depth coverage 37% Covers local stories 32% Has expert reporters 32% Is available 24/7 32% Has a tone that suits me 30% Has no advertising 29% Is a brand I connect with 23% Is available across a range of platforms 21% Has great presenters 20% Covers less popular, challenging stories 19%
Question: To what extent, if at all, do the following qualities influence your choice of news provider? Scale of: ‘A great deal’, ‘A fair amount’, ‘Not very much’, ‘Not at all’, ‘Don’t know’. % saying ‘a great deal’ Source: OLR for the BBC, 4,639 UK adults 18+, February 2010 Title 4 The BBC is the source of news that people trust the most
Of all the news sources, which ONE source, if any, do you trust the most? Open-ended
70%
59% 60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10% 7% 7% 5% 5% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1%
0%
BBC
Other
The
Local
The Sun The
ITV News ITV Mail Daily
SkyNews
TheTimes
Don't know Don't
source
commercial…
Independent
The Guardian The
Local/regional
Financial Times Financial
Daily Telegraph Daily
Do not trust any Do not Channel 4 4 News Channel
Question: Of all the news sources (TV broadcaster, radio, newspaper, magazine or website), which one source, if any, do you trust the most? Open-ended Source; Ipsos MORI for the BBC, UK adults 16+ who follow the news (977), November 2011. Newspaper titles include the Sunday editions Title 5 When those who trust the BBC the most for news are asked why, they cite the accuracy and impartiality of coverage most often
Why do you trust [ ] the most for news? Open-ended question AMONG THOSE WHO TRUST THE BBC THE MOST FOR NEWS
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Accurate / reliable / truthful 29% Impartial / unbiased 23% Most familiar with content 22% High quality reporting / coverage / format 20% My preference 17% Good reputation / well-respected 15% Well-established 14% Accessible 12% Publicly funded / no commercial interest 12% Interest of topics covered 9% Easy to understand 8% Grown up with it 7% Informative / in depth 7% Up-to-date 6% Most popular / main provider 4% Other 6%
Question: Why do you trust [ ] the most for news? Open-ended Source: Ipsos MORI for the BBC, UK adults 16+, 572 who trust the BBC the most for news, November 2011 Title 6 Comparing the reasons why the BBC and other providers are trusted most for news, accuracy, impartiality, reputation, public funding and being long-standing appear more important as reasons why the BBC is most trusted for news
This slide is a visual presentation of the data: • Those reasons cited proportionately more as a reason for trusting BBC news the most are in the blue circle • Those reasons cited proportionately more as a reason for trusting other providers the most are in the yellow circle • Reasons where there was no significant difference in the proportion of citations for the BBC and other providers are in the central green circle
Source: Ipsos MORI for the BBC, UK adults 16+, 572 who trust the BBC the most for news, 262 who trust non-BBC providers the most for news, November 2011 All significance testing at the 95% level Title 7 Drivers analysis of what drives trust in BBC news
• In addition to asking people who trust the BBC the most for news, the reasons for this (see previous slide), a drivers analysis was also undertaken to try to understand further what characteristics drive trust in BBC news
• For the drivers analysis, all respondents were asked :
To what extent do you trust [INSERT SOURCE - BBC] as a source of news? Please give your answer on a scale of one to ten where one means you do not trust it at all and ten means you trust it a great deal
• They were also asked how applicable they thought the following statements were in relation to BBC News on a scale of 1 (doesn’t apply at all) to 10 (totally applicable):
I am going to read out a list of phrases that might be used to describe BBC News coverage. For each phrase, I’d like you to tell me how much you personally think that the phrase applies to BBC News coverage. Please give your answer on a scale of one to ten where 1 means you think the phrase does not apply at all and 10 means you think that the phrase is totally applicable. BBC News (randomised) • is impartial and unbiased • reports the news accurately • is trustworthy • is funded by the public • has no commercial interest • is regulated and accountable • admits when it has got something wrong • takes the time to verify its sources/the story • is the first to break the news • has reporters/presenters I like • has expert presenters / reporters • reports live at the scene of the event as it happens • has reporters all over the UK and the world • has news coverage I like to watch • does not sensationalise the news • shows a range of different perspectives on a story • provides in-depth coverage • is open and transparent about itself as an organisation • holds powerful people to account • is not funded by advertisers
Data from survey conducted by Ipsos MORI for the BBC, UK adults 16+, 963 who follow news , November 2011 Title 8 Results of the drivers analysis of what drives trust in BBC news
• The drivers analysis showed that:
• Reporting news accurately is the biggest driver of trust in BBC news
• After this comes a basket of characteristics that have a bearing on levels of trust in BBC news: • Appeal of coverage: news the individual likes to watch, in-depth coverage, expert reporters, breaking the news • Balance in BBC coverage: Covering a range of perspectives, impartiality, holding the powerful to account • BBC funding and governance: regulated and accountable, not funded by advertising, admitting when mistakes are made
Driver analysis looking at drivers of trust in BBC news. Model explains 58% of the variance in the trust score. Data from survey conducted by Ipsos MORI for the BBC, UK adults 16+, 963 who follow news , November 2011 Title 9 When comparing equally a number of different news providers, BBC News is more trusted as a source of news
To what extent do you trust [ ] as a source of news? AMONGST ALL ADULTS Scale:1 = do not trust at all; 10 = trust a great deal 6-10 net 87% 70% 55% 50% 48% 43% 48% 43% 44% 40% 41% 36% 33% 28% 26% 26% 19% 20% 15% 18% 12% 11% 9% 7% 100% 3% 2% 5% 4% 4% 10% 8% 8% 7% 6% 5% 6% 6% 16% 15% 8% 8% 22% 21% 20% 10% 8% 27% 27% 26% 24% 12% 14% 12% 9% 32% 30% 11% 18% 18% 18% 12% 80% 43% 11% 18% 12% 13% 19% 14% 22% 19% 21% 12% 31% 68% 15% 19% 11% 13% 22% 21% 20% 14% 18% 18% 30% 48% 60% 23% 12% 37% 10% 8% 10% 10% 14% 17% 19% 8% 9% 35% 49% 9% 9% 27% 27% 11% 15% 9% 10% 13% 40% 10% 12% 13% 28% 13% 11% 9% 51% 51% 52% 19% 44% 43% 46% 20% 41% 37% 39% 37% 41% 37% 9% 34% 32% 34% 32% 34% 31% 26% 28% 25% 25% 5% 5% 12%
0% 3%
Metro
The Sun The
Daily Mail Daily
Daily Star Daily
ITV News ITV
The Times The Mirror The
SkyNews
FiveNews
BBC News BBC People The
MSN News MSN
Yahoo News Yahoo
The Guardian The
Google News Google Express Daily
The Observer The
Financial Times Financial
Daily Telegraph Daily
Channel 4 News 4 Channel Independent The Commercial Radio Commercial
Don't Know Score 1-4 Score 5 Score 6-7 Score 8-10
Question: To what extent do you trust [ ] as a source of news? Ipsos MORI for BBC, UK adults 16+ who follow news (963), November 2011. Newspaper titles include the Sunday editions Title 10 When users of other news sources are asked to rate them on trust, they almost always rate the BBC higher than that source
% rating each To what extent do you trust [ ] as a source of news? 8 or more out of 10 Scale:1 = do not trust at all; 10 = trust a great deal 80% 73% 73% 73% 74% 71% 72% 72% 72% 70% 69% 70% 67% 67% 68% 68% 67% 70% 65% 62% 59% 60% 57% 57% 60% 55% 55% 53% 51% 49% 50% 44% 40% 39% 38% 40% 36% 35% 31% 26% 30% 24% 22% 21% 20%
10%
0%
Twitterusers (79)
Metroreaders (136)
ITVNews users (532)
SkyNews users (301) MSNNews users (82)
Five Newsusers (128)
YahooNews users (76)
DailyMail readers (252)
Thereaders Mirror (113)
TheTimes readers (151)
GoogleNews users (117)
DailyExpress readers(84)
TheObserver readers(54)
TheGuardian readers (179)
Channel News 4 (305) users
Financial Financial Times (52) readers
Commercial radiousers (313)
DailyTelegraph readers (134) TheIndependent readers (114) Rating of own news source Rating of BBC News for trust
Question: To what extent do you trust [ ] as a source of news? Ipsos MORI for BBC, UK adults 16+ who follow news (number of users per provider follows the provider name in the chart), November 2011. Insufficient sample to report on the People. Newspaper titles include the Sunday editions. Significance testing at the 95% level Title 11 Trust
Accuracy and impartiality
Range of perspectives
Cross-media insight data
Title 12 The BBC is seen by people as the leading source to turn to for accurate and impartial coverage
Of all the sources of news, which ONE source are you most likely to turn to if you want…
60% 54%
50% 47%
40%
30%
20%
9%9% 8% 8% 10% 7% 7% 6% 5%4% 4% 3%2% 2%2% 2% 2%3% 2%2% 2% 1% 1% 1%1% 1%1% 1%1% 1% 0 1%1% 1%1%
0%
ITV
BBC
Other
Metro
TheSun
Daily Mail Daily
SkyNews
Channel 4
TheTimes
Don'tKnow
YahooNews
GoogleNews
TheGuardian
Noneof These
Daily Telegraph Daily
TheIndependent Localcommercial radio
Impartial coverage Accurate coverage
Question: Of all the sources of news below, which ONE source are you most likely to turn to if you want impartial news coverage? Question: Of all the sources of news below, which ONE source are you most likely to turn to for news that is accurate? Source: Source: Ipsos MORI for the BBC, 2,044 UK adults 15+, August 2011 Title 13 When comparing equally a number of different news providers, people rate the BBC as the most impartial
Using a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very biased and 10 is very impartial, how biased or impartial so you think each of these news sources is? AMONGST ALL ADULTS
6-10 57% 46% 36% 30% 26% 27% 27% 25% 24% 24% 23% 16% 17% 15% 11% 13% 12% 10% 8% 9% 10% 9% 7% net
100% 5% 5% 5% 4% 4% 4% 3% 3% 3% 3% 2% 2% 12% 11% 10% 10% 9% 9% 8% 6% 5% 6% 7% 7% 5% 19% 16% 14% 8% 10% 8% 11% 11% 10% 11% 32% 15% 15% 15% 13% 12% 13% 13% 13% 80% 13% 16% 17% 15% 15% 14% 16% 16% 17% 20% 19% 18% 13% 18% 27% 16% 16% 17% 18% 11% 23% 16% 10% 35% 29% 60% 24% 15% 25% 37% 27% 21% 34% 11% 14% 38% 50% 16% 19% 18% 32% 40% 25% 15% 12% 19% 63% 64% 64% 18% 21% 59% 55% 48% 51% 49% 20% 14% 41% 45% 40% 41% 42% 45% 34% 35% 16% 31% 33% 28% 15% 18% 18% 8%
0%
The Sun
ITV News Daily Mail
Daily Star
Sky Sky News
The Metro
The Mirror
Five News
The Times
MSN News
BBC News
The People
YahooNews
GoogleNews
Daily Express
The Guardian
Financial Times Daily Telegraph
Channel4 News
The Independent Commercial Commercial Radio
Don't Know Score 1-4 Score 5 Score 6-7 Score 8-10
Question: I’m now going to show you another list of news sources. Using a scale from 1-10 where 1 is very biased and 10 is very impartial, how biased or impartial do you think each of the following news sources is? Source: Ipsos MORI for BBC, 2,044 UK adults 15+, August 2011. Newspaper titles include the Sunday editions Title 14 Trust
Accuracy and impartiality
Range of perspectives
Cross-media insight data
Title 15 The BBC leads in terms of the proportion of the UK public overall who think it shows a range of perspectives when reporting a news story
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: [Provider] shows a range of perspectives when reporting a news story AMONGST ALL ADULTS Net Agree 79% 69% 44% 45% 39% 26% 17% 29% 20% 20% 23% 22% 23% 17% 17% 20% 14% 13% 13% 8% 14% 7% 100% 6% 6% 6% 5% 5% 4% 4% 3% 3% 3% 3% 2% 10% 10% 9% 8% 7% 7% 5% 5% 16% 15% 10% 10% 10% 11% 90% 23% 12% 12% 16% 8% 13% 13% 17% 16% 17% 16% 21% 80% 39% 27% 25% 29% 22% 27% 27% 26% 27% 70% 28% 30% 26% 25% 24% 24% 22% 25% 25% 24% 6% 24% 4% 60% 24% 5% 2% 3% 10% 2% 5% 8% 3% 11% 46% 2% 3% 3% 7% 3% 5% 2% 50% 18% 2% 3% 4% 3% 5% 6% 4% 2% 2% 3% 19% 20% 2% 4% 9% 14% 3% 40% 40% 7% 4% 3% 2% 30% 3% 1% 53% 55% 57% 53% 12% 51% 48% 48% 52% 49% 51% 43% 46% 47% 47% 20% 41% 40% 38% 8% 4% 34% 1% 30% 31% 10% 5% 2% 13% 6%
0%
TheSun
DailyMail
ITVNews DailyStar
SkyNews
TheMetro
TheMirror
Five News
TheTimes
BBC News
MSNNews
ThePeople
YahooNews
GoogleNews
TheGuardian TheObserver DailyExpress
Financial Times DailyTelegraph
Channel News 4
TheIndependent Commercial radio Don't know Strongly disagree Tend to disagree Neither agree nor disagree Tend to agree Strongly agree
Question: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: [Provider] shows a range of perspectives when reporting on a news story Source: ICM for BBC, 1,003 GB adults 18+, November 2011. Newspaper titles include the Sunday editions Title 16 Excluding those saying ‘Don’t know’, significantly more people believe that the BBC shows a range of perspectives when reporting a news story compared with the next nearest provider (ITV News)
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: [Provider] shows a range of perspectives when reporting a news story AMONGST ADULTS EXPRESSING AN OPINION
Net Agree 85% 80% 63% 65% 36% 47% 59% 40% 41% 48% 45% 42% 35% 37% 31% 27% 38% 18% 31% 26% 25% 14% 100% 4% 10% 9% 8% 8% 7% 7% 6% 6% 14% 14% 13% 12% 11% 10% 18% 15% 10% 90% 23% 22% 19% 27% 11% 20% 19% 19% 24% 80% 42% 22% 25% 27% 30% 17% 26% 27% 33% 31% 70% 29% 35% 44% 60% 51% 40% 43% 35% 50% 61% 49% 53% 37% 54% 40% 59% 43% 52% 60% 47% 55% 48% 49% 46% 43% 40% 46% 30% 16% 27% 12% 27% 12% 20% 29% 15% 9% 10% 14% 9% 22% 22% 10% 6% 6% 9% 6% 7% 11% 6% 7% 7% 15% 7% 4% 6% 4% 11% 10% 11% 5% 5% 4% 6% 5% 6% 6%
0% 2% 1% 4% 1% 4% 4% 3% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4%
TheSun (592)
DailyMail (572)
ITVNews (828) DailyStar (472)
SkyNews (671)
TheMetro (505)
The(505) Mirror
Five News(566)
TheTimes (546)
BBC News(896)
MSNNews (448)
ThePeople (416)
YahooNews (431)
GoogleNews (494)
TheGuardian (497) TheObserver (458) DailyExpress (487)
Financial Times (454)
DailyTelegraph (516)
Channel News 4 (658)
TheIndependent (466) Commercial radio(636) Strongly disagree Tend to disagree Neither agree nor disagree Tend to agree Strongly agree
Question: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: [Provider] shows a range of perspectives when reporting a news story Source: ICM for BBC, GB adults 18+ who give a rating on the scale, November 2011. Newspaper titles include the Sunday editions Title 17 Trust
Accuracy and impartiality
Range of perspectives
Cross-media insight data
Title 18 Cross-Media Insight Survey (CMI)
Since 2008, GfK has been running for the BBC what we believe to be the only continuous cross-media survey. Each week a sample of 650 UK adults (a different 650 each week) record their media consumption across television, radio, online, teletext , red button, mobile and on-demand. This Cross-Media Insight survey (CMI) is representative of the UK population 16+, and respondents complete the survey each day for a week, either online or over the telephone. Each day for the week that they are involved in the survey, they record what television, radio and online content they consumed the previous day. This daily survey covers:
• 88 television channels ( 16 at a programme level and the remainder at a channel level) • 75 radio stations (c50 stations at a programme level; the remainder at a station level) • c100 websites.
Then, in an additional survey at the end of the week, respondents state whether during that week they consumed any content via teletext, red button, mobile, on-demand or DVD, and they record their newspaper readership that week.
From the point of view of news, each day of the week respondents indicate which, if any, news programmes they watched the previous day on terrestrial television channels; which rolling news channels they watched; and any news websites visited. At the end of the week, they state whether during that week they consumed news through teletext, red button or mobile and from which news providers this content came; and which, if any, daily or Sunday newspapers they read that week. Whilst the survey is extensive, covering well over 100 pieces of news output, there are still some limitations in the data collected. For example, the survey does not itemise the bulletins on BBC radio or on commercial radio, nor does it itemise the one-minute news summary on BBC One or the news output on BBC Three. However, reasonable assumptions can be made on the likelihood of individuals having consumed news on these services by using their responses on the times at which they use these services and/or their responses on the length of time they use them for.
No methodology is perfect in any research, and that is inevitably the case in an area as complex as cross-media measurement. To this end, CMI reveals some methodological points about asking respondents to record their news consumption on a daily basis. For example, the reach figures for television news from CMI (captured through the respondents indicating what they watched yesterday) can be lower for all television channels than that measured by BARB through metered data.
Title 19 Initial plurality data from CMI
3.2 9% c.46%
news providers (retail) of UK adults use only the of those 9% who are used each week per BBC for news in an aged 16-34 adult on average average week
Retail providers defined as: • BBC News (all platforms • ITV News (all platforms) • C4 News (all platforms) • Five News (all platforms) • Sky News (all platforms) • Any commercial radio • News Corps (= any Sun, Times, Sunday Times, Fox News inc channel, newspaper, website) • DMGT (= Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday inc newspaper, website) • Trinity Mirror (= Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, The People, Daily Record, inc newspaper, website) • Guardian Media Group (= The Guardian, The Observer, inc newspaper, website) • Northern and Shell (= Daily Star, Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star Sunday, inc newspaper, website) • Telegraph Media Group (=Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, inc newspaper, website) • Lebedev Foundation (= Independent, Independent on Sunday, inc newspaper, website) • Pearson (= Financial Times) • Others (includes Metro, online news aggregators (AOL News, Google News, Yahoo News, MSN News), CNN (channel, website), Bloomberg, CNBC, Euronews, Al Jazeera) Source: GfK for the BBC, Cross-Media Insight survey (CMI), 8,450 UK adults 16+, quarter 3 2011. Given that CMI records lower reach for television news than BARB, it is possible that this is an under-estimation of the number of news retail providers used per adult Title 20