Most distrust mass media: survey

Almost 80 per cent of Western Australians have doubts about the mass media according to a recent study by the School of Marketing at Curtin Business School.

More than two-thirds (77 per cent) of respondents said they had at some time heard or read a news story that they were convinced was “untrue or very incorrectly reported”.

Nearly one-third of people (29 per cent) said they were sometimes strongly suspicious and another 49 per cent said they had occasional doubts about what they heard through the media.

About 40 per cent indicated their main or high interest was in local and community news, followed by 42 per cent with a high interest in national news and 34 per cent with a high interest in sport.