- Sunday, March 09, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
In a curious revelation about news consumption in India, a survey has said that while 13 per cent of people “strongly trusted” private television news channels compared to 31 per cent who banked more on newspapers, yet the TV channels continued to be the dominant news source in the country.
On the other hand, the trust on online news websites was even lower than the TV channels and they remained the third most preferred source for accessing news despite a surge in usage of smartphones.
These interesting observations are based on a survey which was conducted this year by the Lokniti programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi, in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Bonn, Germany.
The study was conducted in 19 Indian states and covered 7,463 citizens aged 15 and above.
The survey included all social segments — rural and urban citizens; rich and poor; young and old; men and women; and even non-literate and educated.
While more than 70 per cent of Indian consumers said they watch news channels, 48 per cent said they read newspapers and 37 per cent said they consumed news from websites, the survey said.
More than 40 per cent said TV while around 22 per cent said new media such as internet, social media, and mobile phone as their dominant sources for news.
Only six per cent said newspaper and just one per cent said radio was their dominant sources of news, respectively.
Again, while three out of every four homes said they have a TV set at home, close to one in four said they get newspapers daily or often while 13 per cent of houses get magazines either periodically or often.
Twenty per cent of homes have a music system or a transistor while 76 per cent have at least one member who owns a smartphone.
The survey also showed that online websites are the least trusted among news sources.
Only 11 per cent “strongly” trust them, fewer than 13 per cent who strongly trust the private TV news channels.
In contrast, 31 per cent said they strongly trust newspapers.
Over 60 per cent “strongly or somewhat” trust newspapers.
Fifty per cent or more respondents “highly or moderately” trusted social media platforms such as Twitter, WhatsApp and YouTube while less than half said the same about Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram.
More than 50 per cent of active internet users are worried of receiving or being misled by fake news on the internet, social media and WhatsApp.
