NEW DELHI: The Times of India, the largest English-language newspaper in the world, has again emerged as the most trusted among major news media in India, according to a survey in 46 countries conducted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ). Last year it also topped the list with a trust score of 74 – the 2022 survey puts it at an even higher 75. TOI stands head and shoulders above the rest – the next seven brands are grouped in a narrow band of 72 to 70.

While there are no cross-country comparisons, TOI’s tremendous trustworthiness can be gauged from the fact that the UK’s most trusted brand, BBC News, had a score of 55 and the most trusted newspaper in that country, the Financial Times, had a 52 in the USA local television news had the highest trust score of 54, while The Wall Street Journal scored 43, The New York Times 41, CNN and the Washington Post 39.
The survey is also a testament to the trust Times Group newspapers enjoy – tied for 2nd place with All India Radio is TOI’s sister publication The Economic Times.
In general, print brands topped trust scores in India more than other media, with the exceptions of All India Radio, Doordarshan and BBC News. In the West, as illustrated by the US and UK examples, the pattern was reversed, with television brands topping the trust charts. This is not entirely surprising as India had the highest proportion of respondents (49%) using print media as a source of news.
Also, in general, confidence in news has increased in India compared to elsewhere. The report showed that trust has fallen globally, with 42% of the overall sample across all media markets saying they trust most news most of the time, compared to 44% in the last survey. In India, on the other hand, it rose by three percentage points.
About a third of respondents in India saw news organizations as politically diverse, a lower proportion than in the US (41%) or the UK (37%), but a much larger proportion than in Japan (26%) or South Korea (15%). .
In India, respondents were primarily English-speaking online news users, who tended towards a more affluent, younger, more educated, and urban population. The poll, published as part of the Digital News Report 2022, an annual publication of the Reuters Institute – which is part of the University of Oxford – reflects, at least in part, the opinions and attitudes of that section. The survey in India was conducted in collaboration with the Asian College of Journalism.