Dunedin-based Otago Daily Times has come out on top as New Zealand’s most-trusted media outlet in the survey of 16 brands/media - it is published by Allied Press, which also owns a range of community titles across the South Island.
Last year, the top spot was shared by the ODT, RNZ and TVNZ.
RNZ, which has been first or equal first for each of the past four annual AUT surveys, has fallen to second position, alongside the National Business Review.
NZME’s BusinessDesk, Newsroom and TVNZ are next, followed by the NZ Herald, Newshub and Newstalk ZB. Stuff is next, alongside interest.co.nz.
“Since our first Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand report in 2020, general trust in news in New Zealand has continued to decline,” says the report, authored by Dr Merja Myllylahti and Dr Greg Treadwell.
“In 2020, 53 per cent of New Zealanders said they trusted the news in general. In 2024, that figure was at 33 per cent. In five years, general trust in the news has fallen [20 percentage points].”
Trust in social media has fallen again - to a lowly 13 per cent.
At 33 per cent, trust in New Zealand news sits alongside similar numbers for the UK (also 33 per cent) and the United States (32 per cent), but substantially below the international average of 40 per cent as measured by a Reuters survey of 46 markets.
Among some key findings, the AUT authors say: “From March 2023 to March 2024, almost all the major Aotearoa New Zealand news brands suffered declines in their levels of trust. This was especially the case with broadcasters: trust in Whakaata Māori fell 14.6 per cent, TVNZ 9.4 per cent and Newshub 7.8 per cent.”
Trust in RNZ fell 7.5 per cent.
In June last year, it was revealed an RNZ subeditor had added pro-Kremlin content to articles about the Russia-Ukraine war.
As today’s AUT report notes, “while the independent inquiry found ‘inappropriate editing of the type that was identified constitutes a serious breach of trust and damaged RNZ’s reputation for accurate and balanced journalism’, it also noted that the leadership of RNZ had overreacted while commenting on the case: ‘The way the journalist’s errors were framed at the time by RNZ’s leadership contributed to public alarm and reputational damage which the panel believes was not helpful in maintaining public trust’”.
The AUT survey indicates that declining trust in news comes down to several factors.
“Those who say they don’t trust and/or avoid the news are most concerned about the negativity of news, including its impact on their mental health, and what they perceive as political bias and opinion masquerading as news.”
Treadwell said: “Trust in news and news outlets keeps declining and journalists and media companies need urgently to form relationships with their audiences and with communities to rebuild that trust.”
There were some small bright spots for media organisations in the survey.
It revealed that the percentage of people paying for digital news in New Zealand has grown slightly, from 23 per cent in 2023 to 24 per cent in 2024. That is an internationally high statistic - New Zealand is in third place behind Norway and Sweden for the percentage of people paying for news.
The NZ Herald is a standout in this case - 47 per cent of respondents had supported the news brand in the past year. Next highest were The Post (11 per cent), The Spinoff (11 per cent) and Stuff (10 per cent).
The survey comes amid a tumultuous period for New Zealand media companies, with almost all major companies cutting costs.
Warner Bros. Discovery has announced it plans to close Newshub at the end of June, while TVNZ plans to cut popular and profitable shows such as Fair Go and Sunday as part of a proposal to axe 68 roles.
- Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
