The Star remains most trusted brand among M’sian English news portals

PETALING JAYA: The Star is still the top English-language news portal in brand trust scores in Malaysia, according to an annual study of news trends.

For brand trust scores, news channels Astro Awani and The Star scored 64% and 58%, respectively, as reported in the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024.

The report added that The Star was the top English daily for weekly offline reach among TV, radio and print, and was also the top English language portal in weekly online reach.

In an overview of the report, lead author Nic Newman shared key findings, including: “In many countries, especially outside Europe and the United States, we find a significant further decline in the use of Facebook for news and a growing reliance on a range of alternatives including private messaging apps and video networks.”

Video is also becoming a more important source of online news, especially with younger groups.

On the subject of artificial intelligence (AI), he noted: “Our research also indicates that people who tend to trust the news in general are also more likely to be comfortable with uses of AI where humans (journalists) remain in control, compared with those that don’t.”

The 13th edition of the Digital News Report is based on data from 95,000 respondents from six continents and 47 markets.

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is part of the Politics and International Relations Department in University of Oxford and is affiliated with Green Templeton College.

Their core funding comes from the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Their work is also supported by a wide range of other funders, including academic funding bodies, foundations, non-profits, and industry partners.

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is dedicated to exploring the future of journalism worldwide through debate, engagement and research.