Poll trolling

Funny things, polls. Christian Communication Partnership, who appear to be the commercial drivers of the charity Premier Radio, commission a poll on media trust, etc, from Savanta Comres. I can't find any use of it in the various outputs of Premier Radio, yet it makes The Daily Telegraph. They headline the finding that 69 percent of people said they trusted the BBC, compared with 73 percent who backed ITV.  Sky News rated 55%.  The survey also found that 47 percent of respondents believe there is an over dependence on BBC News. I'm sure the chairman of Premier Radio's charity, Roger Bolton, will understand what's going on.

Dame Patrica Hodgson, former Beeboid and Tory opined "“It was undoubtedly the case that ITV news better reflected the range of what was going on in the nation. There was more analysis; there was a lot more in-depth pieces from across the nation, and I’m afraid I think the reason for that was commercial funding.”

For context, 69% is a good result for the BBC. On December 16, Yougov said only 44% of those surveyed trusted the BBC to tell the truth. In January 2018, the Daily Mail found a survey that said only 16% of those questioned trusted the BBC (Boots the Chemist topped this imaginative poll, at 22%). 

ITV's lead news anchor Tom Bradby has got excited by the latest survey. 

This feels like a big moment for us; ITV is now the UK’s most trusted news source. https://t.co/6lP85jAI4C

— tom bradby (@tombradby) December 28, 2019

However ITV's Europe Editor James Mates is more circumspect.

I think everyone at ITV, C4 and elsewhere should be very careful about feeling good about this. It may not be that we are doing anything different, nor that the BBC are doing anything different, but just that the attacks on us haven’t started yet. https://t.co/csUmK2RzPZ

— James Mates (@jamesmatesitv) December 28, 2019