Study finds public trust in media on the decline
In terms of credibility, BBS radio scores head and shoulders above the rest
Public trust in the media has declined in recent years, according to the final draft version of the Bhutan information and media impact study (BIMIS) 2013.
Concerns among respondents about financial issues causing media to compromise editorial independence, inaccurate content, lack of in-depth analysis, and that some media are politicised and carry partisan views, are some reasons mentioned for the observations.
The study, conducted over a period of six months from November 2012 to April 2013, interviewed 2,257 sample households located in six dzongkhags, two each in the western, central and eastern regions.
Respondent selection was also based on the urban and rural population distribution, and male to female ratio.
The study was conducted by the department of information and media of the information and communications ministry.
In terms of credibility, 64 percent of respondents felt that BBS radio content was credible most of the time, followed by international radio (49 percent), Kuzoo FM (42 percent), Centennial radio (39 percent) and Radio Valley (38 percent).
Fifty-five percent of respondents indicated that BBS TV content was credible most of the time, compared to 44 percent indicating the same for international TV.
For newspapers, 42 percent of respondents felt that Kuensel news content was credible most of the time, followed by Business Bhutan (41 percent), Bhutan Observer (37 percent), Bhutan Youth (33 percent), and Bhutan Today (25 percent).
Twenty-three percent of respondents said that news content in The Bhutanese, Druk Nyetshul, and Druk Melong, were credible most of the time, while only 20 percent felt the same for the Bhutan Times newspaper.
Twenty-nine percent of respondents said that news content on the internet was credible most of the time, followed by international newspaper or magazines (ten percent), Bhutanese magazines (nine percent), and advertising (nine percent).
In terms of balance of coverage, focus group participants and media experts, while acknowledging increasing coverage of rural issues, post 2008, still feel media coverage is urban centric, it is pointed out in the BIMIS document.
This feeling is also backed up by rural respondents, it is pointed out. Survey respondents suggested the government provide incentives to media houses to enable them to expand their coverage on rural issues, and so deliver balanced content to the public.
Qualitative study participants also “lamented” the lack of proper research, and in-depth analysis, particularly in the print media. “Many stories, they believe, are based on limited reliable information sources and lack good investigation,” it is pointed out. “People want more investigative journalism and a professional media fraternity.”
In terms of covering development issues, the study found that the media has conducted “fairly good coverage of all four pillars of GNH”. Culture was found to be the most covered topic, followed by social issues, politics and governance, environment, and sustainable economic development.
It is pointed out that people are generally satisfied with the quality of service of the Bhutanese media and is found to be more popular than international media. Despite the absence of competition, many respondents are satisfied with BBS TV and radio, while Kuensel continues to be rated higher, in terms of quality of its newspaper service and circulation figures.
However, it is also pointed out that stakeholders “strongly” express the need to license a second TV company to enhance diversity and pluralism of audiovisual content, and boost local content development.
The objective of BIMIS 2013 was to assess the impact of media on society, trends in media content and pattern of information and media consumption, so as to facilitate development of appropriate policies for the effective development of the information and media sector in Bhutan. This is the third time the study has been carried out.
The study also includes other aspects, such as access to media, influence of and commercialism in media, challenges and recommendations, among others. It is available on the information and communications ministry website.
By Gyalsten K Dorji
3 Comments to “Study finds public trust in media on the decline”
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How can we trust Bhutanese media when some biased journalist like Lamsang work hand in hand with a political party’s leader? He never reported negative issue of PDP and positive issue of DPT. Week in and week out, his paper brings negative and false allegations for DPT. That’s why his paper’s credibility is slowly fading.
The Bhutanese newspaper is the newspaper which divides people and spreads distrust. It poisons people by showing negative sides of one party. I used to read The Bhutanese until it became predictable paper. You know what to expect from this paper. This paper takes advantage of freedom of speech and has absolutely no accountability. It is evidently backed by a party we all know. So, I will keep going around and tell people that this paper is full of mind poisoning stuffs.
The Bhutanese newspaper will never gain public trust because of its biased and politically motivated articles. The paper always undermines one party and keeps praising the other. The paper also depicts Bhutan as a corrupted and autocratic society to the world.