A new report by the Carnegie UK Trust provides clear evidence of the importance that the UK public places on ‘the public interest’ of journalism. The report, which is based on a survey of 2,000 people in the UK, shows the role the public sees in themselves in determining what is in the public interest, while stressing the importance of balancing the ‘what’ and ‘who’ of a story against ‘how’ it was gathered.
The project, entitled ‘Voicing the Public Interest: Listening to the public on press regulation’, was carried out in partnership with Demos, as part of the Carnegie UK Trust’s wider work on Better Journalism. The Carnegie UK Trust has a long-standing interest in news media, and its critical role in a democratic society.
Among the report’s findings were:
- 77 per cent of respondents want an independent regulator involved in setting guidelines on the public interest.
- 71 per cent feel that an independent regulator (funded by government) should be involved in adjudicating on complaints about the press.
- 63 per cent think that the general public should play a role in setting the guidelines on the public interest.
