NIGEL FARAGE warned the feelings of mistrust towards the BBC will continue to widen following a new study highlighting the lack of trust for mainstream media.
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage attacked the BBC for declining trust from the public following a study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. The global survey of 80,000 people in 40 countries asked UK respondents to rate the trustworthiness of the BBC. The data showed that among those that described themselves as very left-wing or very right-wing, the proportion who said they trusted BBC News has fallen by 20 percent in the past two years.
The figure in 2018 stood at 63 percent, 63 percent in 2019 to just 47 percent in 2020.
Posting to his Twitter page, Mr Farage addressed the shift away from mainstream media and the future of broadcasting.
Mr Farage said: “Four years on from US President Donald Trump saying ‘You are fake news’ some polling out by the Reuters institute says that you are beginning to think that as well.
“Remarkable figures, only 28 percent of people in the UK believe, consistently, what the news channels are telling them.
“In particular with the BBC, trust in the BBC has fallen by 20 percent since 2018 alone.”
Mr Farage then explained what he believed this could mean for mainstream media in the future.
He said: “There has never been a time where trust in what we see on the television, hear on the radio and read in the newspapers has ever been lower.
“Allied with that, trust in politicians has fallen very heavily.”
He continued: “The result of all of this is the gap between mainstream media and where ordinary people in this country has never been wider.
“That gap will get filled, it will be the online subscription model.
“It will be online by whatever means closes it, it needs to happen because free speech is under threat.”