Local media still most trusted says new study

Local media continues to be the most trusted medium, according to new research on the importance of community to people in Britain commissioned by the Newspaper Society.

Forty-five per cent of people said local media contained content they trusted compared to 37 per cent who cited television, the next highest medium.

Eighty-one per cent of people agreed that the recession has made supporting the local community more important and local media plays a key role in stimulating pride in their local area.

The research, Loving Local, is published today and involved a study of nearly 5,000 adults by Crowd DNA on behalf of the NS. It found that 82 per cent of respondents were proud of their area – a rise of 11 percentage points on three years previously - and that local media fuels this sense of pride much more than any other medium.

Seventy three per cent of respondents said local media was relevant to having a sense of pride in their area – nearly four times higher than the internet (19 per cent), the next highest medium.

Local media (73 per cent) was cited as the best medium for making people feel part of their community, followed by the internet (22 per cent), TV (11 per cent), and national newspapers (five per cent).

Georgina Harvey, NS president and managing director of Trinity Mirror Regionals, said: “There is growing evidence of the importance of the need for a sense of place and belonging... life is truly local. And no-one can deliver that sense of community and belonging like the regional press.”

To see the Loving Local micro site click here.