A large number of Indian citizens rely on news sought through WhatsApp, suggests a study conducted by the Oxford University’s Reuters institute for the study of journalism.
The study is part of Reuters Institute’s Trust in News Project and evaluated trust in news outlets and what people think about news on digital platforms like YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and so on. Simultaneously, it assessed people from four countries namely, India, Brazil, the USA, and the UK.
Reports propose that 77% of Indian citizens trust news outlets in general. On the other hand, 54% trust news on WhatsApp, 51% on YouTube and Google, 27% on Instagram, 25% on Twitter, and 15% on TikTok.
Furthermore, 46% of Indians consume news on WhatsApp every day in contrast to 58% of people in Brazil.
The study further categorized people based on their political interests. 69% of people concerned with politics trust YouTube for news and 24% of them favor TikTok to be informed. On the contrary, 46% of those disinterested in politics rely on WhatsApp for information, and 13% support TikTok as a medium of news.
The study further implies that 70% of those who maintain a liking for Prime Minister Narendra Modi depend on WhatsApp contrary to 58% of Indians who preserve a disliking for the Prime Minister.
The survey also looked into the perspective of citizens on journalists. 58% of news readers believe that journalists in the country manipulate information to serve the propaganda of politicians. 57% hold the contention that journalists personally verify the information they put forth. While 53% think that they prevent their bias from changing the perspective of a news report.
However, it concluded that “For most platforms, people are more likely to say they use them to connect with other people in their lives or for entertainment or to pass the time rather than to find out information about current affairs.” It further indicated that news on Google is considered on par with news overall.
