The Star continues to rank as top English-language news portal

PETALING JAYA: The Star continues to rank as the most trusted English-language news portal in Malaysia in an annual study of news trends.

When it comes to brand trust scores in Malaysia, news channel Astro Awani and The Star scored 64% and 56%, respectively, as reported in the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2022, the 11th edition.

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 the local portion of the report, Prof Zaharom Nain of the Centre for the Study of Communications and Culture, University of Nottingham Malaysia campus, wrote that online news and social media remain the main sources of news in Malaysia.

“Access using smartphones surprisingly dropped seven percentage points over the year, down to 78%,” he observed.

The survey also reported that Sinar Harian, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and Berita Harian had trust scores of 53% each.

In an overview, lead author Nic Newman said this year’s data confirms how the various shocks of the last few years, including the Covid-19 pandemic, have further accelerated structural shifts towards a more digital, mobile, and platform-dominated media environment.

The data was collected from six continents and 46 markets and aimed to cast a light on key issues that face the industry.

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is a research centre at the University of Oxford that tracks media trends.