The MSNBC brand has grabbed the top spot in news brand trust according to the fourth annual Media Trust Tracking survey from market research firm Brand Keys, which polled regular viewers to various news outlets. BBC was in second, followed by Fox, PBS, and Bloomberg News.
The firm polled 4,624 U.S. residents and asked them to rate the trustworthyness of brands they watched regularly (at least three times a week) according to a complicated mix of psychological inquiry and statistical analysis to determine how much trust a brand engenders.*
Among those at least thrice-weekly 94% of those regular MSNBC viewers trusted its brand. For BBC, 93% said they trusted it, which Brand Keys says anecdotal evidence suggested was related to its Brexit coverage. Fox was third at 89% trust, but it was in a virtual dead heat with PBS at 88%, which Brand Keys said stemmed from their respective impeachment coverage. Bloomberg was fifth at 86% trust, a percentage the company said was linked to the ads for its founder, Michael Bloomberg's, presidential run.
Rounding out the news trust list were CNN at 83%, CBS at 79%, NBC at 78%, and ABC at 76%
*"Brand Keys uses an independently-validated research methodology that fuses emotional and rational aspects of the categories, identifies four path-to-purchase behavioral drivers for the category-specific Ideal, and identifies the values (including “trust” as it is characterized in a particular category) that form the components of each driver, along with their percent-contribution to engagement, loyalty, and profitability."
