Report “Trust in UK government and news media COVID-19 information down, concerns over misinformation from government and politicians up”

The report examines people’s attitudes towards how news organisations, government and other institutions are responding to the coronavirus pandemic in the UK based on a survey fielded from 21 May to 27 May, with a focus on changes since the first wave of survey, rolled from 10 April to 14 April. Among its highlights:

• trust in the UK government as a source of information about coronavirus has declined substantially since April 2020.
• the decline in trust in the UK government has happened across the political spectrum
• there is a significant increase in the percentage of people who say they are concerned about false or misleading information about coronavirus from the UK government and from politicians
• the percentage of people who say that the UK government is doing a good job responding to the coronavirus crisis is down 21 percentage points since April.

The report is the fourth in a series of ten Factsheets included in the UK COVID-19 news and information project that analyses how the British public navigates information and misinformation about coronavirus and about how the government and other institutions are responding to the pandemic.