Business Standard among the top 10 trusted media brands in India: Survey

The survey also said amid the pandemic, legacy print brands and government broadcasters, DD News (Doo­rdarshan) and All India Radio, retained high levels of trust among consumers in India

Business Standard is one of the top 10 trusted media brands in India, according to a survey by The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. 

The survey also said amid the coronavirus pandemic, legacy print brands and government broadcasters, DD News (Doo­rdarshan) and All India Radio, retained high levels of trust among consumers in India. Print brands, in general, are more trusted than television brands, it added. Reuters Institute said the pandemic stoked hunger for trusted news, and a clear majority of people want media organisations to be impartial and objective. The Times of India topped the list, followed by DD News, AIR, BBC and The Indian Express. Others in the top 10 include The Economic Times, Hindustan Times, The Hindu and CNN.

The data for the survey is based on responses mainly from English-speaking, online news users in India. The respondents are generally more affluent, younger, have higher levels of formal education, and are more likely to live in cities than the wider Indian population.

“We’ve been through a very dark time and much of the public recognise that news organisations have often been the ones shining light in that darkness,” said Rasmus Nielsen, director of the Reuters Institute.

India is one of the strongest mobile-focused markets in the global survey, with 73 per cent accessing news through smartphones and just 37 per cent via computer. India has more than 600 million active internet users, many of whom access the internet only through mobile phones, the survey said.