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New research shows that more than 80 percent of New Zealanders trust the news provided by their local media outlets.
An online survey commissioned by the News' Publishers Association shows that that level of trust is extended to search and social media if the local news source is shown.
The association's public affairs director Andrew Holden said the research reinforced the argument that local news was of significant value to international tech companies which used that content.
"Search results are 10% better when local news sources are available, and a social media platform is 11% better off if its users can see that local journalism sits behind the information," Holden said in a statement.
What is the value of journalism to the search and social ecosystem? Photo: Supplied / TRA / NPA
The survey also found that 93 percent of respondents accessed the news at least once a day with 57 percent checking the news more often.
A third of respondents spend more than 30 minutes each day reading, watching and listening to the news, the survey found.
People were getting their news from a range of different sources with the top three local TV (59 percent), social media (46 percent) and radio stations (40 percent).
Holden said the research showed that New Zealanders wanted to stay informed and that local journalism was a vital component of that.
"Much is made of declining trust in media as measured in other studies, but this shows that New Zealanders have a connection to their local newsrooms, they understand how important it is to have journalists on the ground reporting about their community - in good times and bad - and they want to see that work reflected in search and social media."
The online survey which was commissioned by the News' Publishers Association conducted by The Research Agency (TRA) ran from 29 April to 10 May 2024 surveyed 1520 adults.
