- For the fourth consecutive year, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has named News24 as South Africa's most trusted news source.
- According to the 2022 Reuters Institute Digital News Report, overall trust in news has increased significantly in the country.
- This is despite a global drop in media trust across nearly half the countries surveyed this year.
- Of all 46 countries polled, SA achieved the second highest media trust score.
When it comes to South Africa's most trustworthy news brands, News24 has no match.
That's according to the latest ranking in the annual report by Oxford University's Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which measures trust in media.
For the fourth consecutive year, the annual Reuters Institute Digital News Report has named News24 as the country's most trusted source of news.
The report, which is based on an online survey of 93 432 people in 46 countries, found that overall trust in news increased substantially in South Africa in the last four years. It found that between 2019 and 2022, trust in media grew from 49% to 61% in the country, bucking the global trend of a general decline in trust. Of the 46 countries surveyed, South Africa holds the second highest trust score overall, tied with Portugal at 61%.
Finland remains the country with the highest level of overall trust at 69%, while the US has the lowest score of all 46 countries, along with Slovakia, at 26%. Of the people surveyed in Africa, the report found that 61% of South Africans trusted most news, most of the time. This was compared to 58% in Nigeria and 57% in Kenya.
News24 scored 85% on the trust barometer, followed by eNCA's 84%. The rest of South Africa's top 10 trusted news brands are: BBC News, SABC News, Sunday Times, Mail & Guardian, TimesLIVE, The Citizen, EWN and regional or local newspapers. While the report noted a rise in selective news avoidance across countries, it also found that South African news publications were increasingly emphasising the importance of trust as part of their journalistic brand value.
It acknowledged News24's recent decision to change its motto from "Breaking News. First" to "Trusted News. First" in March this year.
This move followed News24's introduction of a subscription service for its premium investigative journalism, opinion and analysis in August 2020. In the 18 months after the launch, News24 managed to convert 50 000 readers to paying subscribers.
News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson said he was extremely proud of his team for again grabbing the top spot in this survey.
"Trust is the golden metric. Over the past year, we have exposed countless corrupt officials, unscrupulous businesspeople, sex offenders and dodgy politicians who abuse power and mislead the public. It is incredibly satisfying and a massive vote of confidence to know the public sees and appreciates this."
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