HKU POP releases people's appraisal of local news mediaBack

Press Release on October 7, 2014

Special Announcements

To facilitate academic study and rational discussion, Public Opinion Programme (POP) of The University of Hong Kong has already released for public examination some time ago via the "HKU POP Site" (http://hkupop.pori.hk) the raw data of all 56 regular rating surveys of CE CY Leung, as well as the 181 regular rating surveys of former CE Donald Tsang and 239 regular rating surveys of former CE CH Tung, along with related demographics of respondents. Please follow normal academic standards when using or citing such data. Moreover, POP's original plan to launch a "POP Education Page" is now put on hold due to the prevailing social situation.
Please note that later today, Robert Chung the Director of POP will issue a public call regarding the recent situation in Hong Kong.

Abstract

POP interviewed 1,032 Hong Kong people between 23 and 30 September 2014 by means of a random telephone survey conducted by real interviewers. The survey finds that compared to five months ago, people's net satisfaction with press freedom has rebounded significantly to positive 30 percentage points, but their rating of the general credibility of the news media has dropped to an 8-year low of 5.84 marks. Among various types of news media, people are still most satisfied with the television and radio, with net satisfaction rates at positive 42 and 41 percentage points respectively. People's satisfaction with the overall performance of the news media in general has not changed much, with a net satisfaction of positive 32 percentage points, which is slightly higher than that of press freedom. Besides, most people think the media have given full play to press freedom, but at the same time misused or abused press freedom. Less than 30% each way consider the media responsible and irresponsible in their reporting. Close to half believe Hong Kong's news media have practiced self-censorship, mainly because of their hesitation to criticize the Central Government, while the percentage of those who thought the media have scruple when criticizing the HKSAR Government has risen to a 17-year high. The maximum sampling error of all percentages is not more than +/-4% at 95% confidence level, while the sampling errors of rating figures and net satisfaction rates need another calculation. The response rate of the rating survey is 68%.

Points to note:

[1] The address of the "HKU POP SITE" is http://hkupop.pori.hk, journalists can check out the details of the survey there.
[2] The sample size of the survey on people's appraisal of local news media is 1,032 successful interviews, not 1,032 x 67.7% response rate.
[3] "95% confidence level" means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. When quoting these figures, journalists can state "sampling error of rating not more than +/-0.16 marks, sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4% and sampling error of net satisfaction rates not more than +/-7% at 95% confidence level". Because POP introduced "rim weighting" in 2014, during the transition period, whether changes in various figures are beyond sampling errors are based on tests using the same weighting methods. That is, to test whether the first set of figures collected in 2014 is significantly different from that of the previous survey, both sets of data are rim weighted before testing, instead of using simple computation of the published figures.
[4] Because of sampling errors in conducting the survey(s) and the rounding procedures in processing the data, the figures cannot be too precise, and the totals may not be completely accurate. Therefore, when quoting percentages of the survey(s), journalists should refrain from reporting decimal places, but when quoting the rating figures, one decimal place can be used.
[5] The data of this survey is collected by means of random telephone interviews conducted by real interviewers, not by any interactive voice system (IVS). If a research organization uses "computerized random telephone survey" to camouflage its IVS operation, it should be considered unprofessional.

Latest Figures

POP today releases on schedule via the "POP SITE" the latest figures of people's appraisal of local news media. From 2014, POP enhanced the previous simple weighting method based on age and gender distribution to "rim weighting" based on age, gender and education (highest level attended) distribution. The latest figures released today have been rim-weighted according to provisional figures obtained from the Census and Statistics Department regarding the gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population in 2014 mid-year and the educational attainment (highest level attended) distribution collected in the 2011 Census. Herewith the contact information for the latest survey:

Date of survey	Overall sample size	Response rate	Sampling error of percentages ^{^[6]}
23-30/9/2014	1,032	67.7%	+/-3%

[6] Calculated at 95% confidence level using full sample size. "95% confidence level" means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified.

Recent figures are summarized as follows:

Date of survey	28-31/5/2013	28-31/10/2013	7-10/4/2014	23-30/9/2014	Latest change
Sample base ^[7]	1,012	1,022	1,015	1,032	--
Overall response rate	66.8%	68.9%	68.1%	67.7%	--
Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding and error ^[8]	--
Credibility rating of the local news media in general	6.01^[10]	6.14	6.01	5.84+/-0.16	-0.17^[10]
Freedom of the press in HK: Satisfaction rate ^[9]	53%	53%	47%^[10]	55+/-4%	+8%^[10]
Freedom of the press in HK: Dissatisfaction rate ^[9]	24%	28%	32%^[10]	25+/-4%	-7%^[10]
Net satisfaction rate	29%	25%	15%^[10]	30+/-7%	+15%^[10]
Mean value^[9]	3.3+/-0.1 (Base=670)	3.2+/-0.1 (Base=582)	3.1+/-0.1^[10] (Base=544)	3.4+/-0.1 (Base=596)	+0.3^[10]
Perceived the local news media to be responsible in their reporting ^[9]	31%	32%	35%	29+/-4%	-6%^[10]
Perceived the local news media to be irresponsible in their reporting ^[9]	29%	32%	31%	26+/-3%	-5%^[10]
Mean value^[9]	3.0+/-0.1 (Base=607)	3.0+/-0.1 (Base=575)	3.0+/-0.1 (Base=512)	3.0+/-0.1 (Base=611)	--
Perceived that the local news media had given full play to the freedom of speech	71%	60%^[10]	62%	61+/-4%	-1%
Perceived that the local news media had not given full play to the freedom of speech	22%	33%^[10]	30%	29+/-4%	-1%
Perceived that the local news media had misused/abused the freedom of press	56%	53%	49%	50+/-4%	+1%
Perceived that the local news media had not misused/abused the freedom of press	32%	37%^[10]	41%	36+/-4%	-5%^[10]
Perceived that the local news media had practiced self-censorship	48%	51%	51%	47+/-4%	-4%
Perceived that the local news media had not practiced self-censorship	35%	33%	32%	28+/-4%	-4%
Perceived that the local news media had scruples when criticizing the HKSAR Government	34%	38%	37%	46+/-4%	+9%^[10]
Perceived that the local news media had no scruples when criticizing the HKSAR Government	57%^[10]	55%	55%	45+/-4%	-10%^[10]
Perceived that the local news media had scruples when criticizing the Central Government	52%	57%^[10]	55%	58+/-4%	+3%
Perceived that the local news media had no scruples when criticizing the Central Government	38%^[10]	34%	35%	34+/-4%	-1%

[7] Starting from 2011, these questions only uses sub-samples of the tracking surveys concerned, the sample size for each question also varies. The sub-sample sizes of this survey range from 578 to 665, and the increased sampling errors have already been reflected in the figures tabulated.
[8] All error figures in the table are calculated at 95% confidence level. "95% confidence level" means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Media can state "sampling error of rating not more than +/-0.16 mark, sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4% and sampling error of net satisfaction rates not more than +/-7% at 95% confidence level" when quoting the above figures. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.
[9] Collapsed from a 5-point scale. The mean value is calculated by quantifying all individual responses into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 marks according to their degree of positive level, where 1 is the lowest and 5 the highest, and then calculate the sample mean.
[10] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level under the same weighting method, meaning that they are statistically significant prima facie. However, whether numerical differences are statistically significant or not is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful.

Results of latest survey showed that, on a scale of 0-10, the latest credibility rating of the Hong Kong news media in general was 5.84 marks. Moreover, 55% of the respondents were satisfied with the freedom of the press in Hong Kong while 25% were dissatisfied, net satisfaction at positive 30 percentage points. The mean value is 3.4, meaning between "half-half" and "quite satisfied". 29% perceived the local news media to be responsible in their reporting, 26% regarded the local news media as irresponsible. The mean value is 3.0, meaning "half-half". 61% believed the local news media had given full play to the freedom of speech, but 50% said they had misused or abused the freedom of press. Besides, 47% of the respondents thought the local news media had practised self-censorship while 28% perceived the contrary, 46% thought they had scruples when criticizing the HKSAR Government, whereas 58% thought they had scruples when criticizing the Central Government. The results of other questions such as people's main source of news and their satisfaction on individual news media are shown below:

Date of survey	28-31/5/2013	28-31/10/2013	7-10/4/2014	23-30/9/2014	Latest change
Sample base ^[11]	1,012	1,022	1,015	1,032	--
Overall response rate	66.8%	68.9%	68.1%	67.7%	--
Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding and error^[12]	--
People's main source of news: Television	71%	77%^[15]	77+/-4%	79+/-3%	+2%
People's main source of news: Newspaper	55%^[15]	60%^[15]	56+/-4%	50+/-4%	-6%^[15]
People's main source of news: Internet	45%	49%	48+/-4%	47+/-4%	-1%
People's main source of news: Radio	21%	35%^[15]	28+/-4%^[15]	24+/-3%	-4%^[15]
People's main source of news: Friends	9%	14%^[15]	13+/-3%	14+/-3%	+1%
Perceived that television was the most trustworthy source	50%	36%^[15]	38+/-4%	41+/-4%	+3%
Perceived that newspaper was the most trustworthy source	14%^[15]	21%^[15]	22+/-4%	16+/-3%	-6%^[15]
Perceived that radio was the most trustworthy source	14%	20%^[15]	14+/-3%^[15]	13+/-3%	-1%
Perceived that internet was the most trustworthy source	6%	10%^[15]	11+/-3%	10+/-2%	-1%
Perceived that family member was the most trustworthy source	4%^[15]	3%	4+/-2%	7+/-2%	+3%^[15]
Satisfaction rate of television ^[13]	61%^[15]	60%	61+/-4%	54+/-4%	-7%^[15]
Dissatisfaction rate of television ^[13]	10%^[15]	15%^[15]	20+/-3%^[15]	13+/-3%	-7%^[15]
Net satisfaction rate	51%^[15]	46%	41+/-7%	42+/-6%	+1%
Mean value^[13]	3.6+/-0.1 (Base=627)	3.5+/-0.1 (Base=531)	3.5+/-0.1 (Base=541)	3.5+/-0.1 (Base=621)	--
Satisfaction rate of radio ^[13]	51%	56%^[15]	53+/-4%^[15]	50+/-4%	-3%
Dissatisfaction rate of radio ^[13]	6%	10%^[15]	18+/-3%^[15]	9+/-2%	-9%^[15]
Net satisfaction rate	45%	46%	36+/-7%^[15]	41+/-5%	+5%
Mean value^[13]	3.6+/-0.1 (Base=517)	3.6+/-0.1 (Base=466)	3.4+/-0.1^[15] (Base=470)	3.5+/-0.1 (Base=565)	+0.1
Satisfaction rate of internet ^[13] ^[14]	31%	42%^[15]	43+/-4%	36+/-4%	-7%^[15]
Dissatisfaction rate of internet ^[13] ^[14]	15%	16%	16+/-3%	16+/-3%	--
Net satisfaction rate	16%	26%^[15]	28+/-6%	21+/-5%	-7%^[15]
Mean value^[13]	3.2+/-0.1 (Base=519)	3.3+/-0.1 (Base=446)	3.3+/-0.1 (Base=409)	3.3+/-0.1 (Base=474)	--
Satisfaction rate of newspapers ^[13]	34%	39%^[15]	46+/-4%^[15]	32+/-4%	-14%^[15]
Dissatisfaction rate of newspapers ^[13]	19%^[15]	24%^[15]	22+/-3%	21+/-3%	-1%
Net satisfaction rate	15%	16%	24+/-7%	10+/-6%	-14%^[15]
Mean value^[13]	3.1+/-0.1 (Base=607)	3.1+/-0.1 (Base=543)	3.3+/-0.1 (Base=519)	3.1+/-0.1 (Base=534)	-0.2^[15]
Satisfaction rate of magazines ^[13]	10%	12%	12+/-3%	9+/-2%	-3%^[15]
Dissatisfaction rate of magazines ^[13]	43%	43%	48+/-4%^[15]	43+/-4%	-5%^[15]
Net satisfaction rate	-33%	-32%	-36+/-6%	-34+/-5%	+2%
Mean value^[13]	2.5+/-0.1 (Base=528)	2.5+/-0.1 (Base=446)	2.4+/-0.1 (Base=440)	2.4+/-0.1 (Base=487)	--
Satisfaction rate of news media in general ^[13]	53%	46%^[15]	51+/-4%	48+/-4%	-3%
Dissatisfaction rate of news media in general ^[13]	12%	16%^[15]	17+/-3%	16+/-3%	-1%
Net satisfaction rate	41%	31%^[15]	34+/-6%	32+/-6%	-2%
Mean value^[13]	3.4+/-0.1 (Base=655)	3.3+/-0.1 (Base=541)	3.3+/-0.1 (Base=526)	3.3+/-0.1 (Base=603)	--

[11] Starting from 2011, these questions only uses sub-samples of the tracking surveys concerned, the sample size for each question also varies. The sub-sample sizes of this survey range from 598 to 684, and the increased sampling errors have already been reflected in the figures tabulated.
[12] All error figures in the table are calculated at 95% confidence level. "95% confidence level" means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Media can state "sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4% and that of net satisfaction rates not more than +/-6% at 95% confidence level" when quoting the above figures. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.
[13] Collapsed from a 5-point scale. The mean value is calculated by quantifying all individual responses into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 marks according to their degree of positive level, where 1 is the lowest and 5 the highest, and then calculate the sample mean.
[14] Question was first introduced in April 2010.
[15] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level under the same weighting method, meaning that they are statistically significant prima facie. However, whether numerical differences are statistically significant or not is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful.

Results of the survey also showed that, 79% and 50% of the respondents claimed their main sources of news were television and newspaper respectively, while 41% thought the news reported by the former channel was the most trustworthy. Regarding people's appraisal of various news channels, 54% of the respondents were satisfied with the television, whereas 50% were satisfied with the radio. Net satisfactions of these two channels were positive 42 and 41 percentage points, while both of their mean values were 3.5, which were in between "half-half" and "quite satisfied". Comparatively speaking, people's satisfaction with the internet and printed media was lower, as the respective satisfaction rates of the internet, the newspaper and the magazine were 36%, 32% and 9% only, net satisfaction were positive 21, positive 10 and negative 34 percentage points, and mean values were 3.3, 3.1 and 2.4 respectively, meaning close to "half-half" for the former two, and in between "quite dissatisfied" and "half-half" for the latter. All in all, the latest satisfaction rate of the above news media in general was 48%, net satisfaction at positive 32 percentage points, and the mean value is 3.3, meaning close to "half-half".

Commentary

Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, observed, "Compared to five months ago, people's net satisfaction with press freedom has rebounded significantly to positive 30 percentage points, but their rating of the general credibility of the news media has dropped to an 8-year low of 5.84 marks. Among various types of news media, people are still most satisfied with the television and radio, with net satisfaction rates at positive 42 and 41 percentage points respectively. People's satisfaction with the overall performance of the news media in general has not changed much, with a net satisfaction of positive 32 percentage points, which is slightly higher than that of press freedom. Besides, most people think the media have given full play to press freedom, but at the same time misused or abused press freedom. Less than 30% each way consider the media responsible and irresponsible in their reporting. Close to half believe Hong Kong's news media have practiced self-censorship, mainly because of their hesitation to criticize the Central Government, while the percentage of those who thought the media have scruple when criticizing the HKSAR Government has risen to a 17-year high. As for the reasons affecting people's appraisal of the press, readers can make their own judgment after reading the list of events archived in our 'Opinion Daily' feature page in our 'POP Site'."

Future Release (Tentative)

October 14, 2014 (Tuesday) 1pm to 2pm: Popularity of CE and Principal Officials