S Koreans 'trust internet news'

Many Koreans get their news from the web rather than newspapers

South Koreans have considerable faith in the internet as a source of news, according to an opinion poll carried out for the BBC and Reuters.

More than a third of South Koreans said the web was their most important news source, higher than the world average.

Indonesia, the other East Asian nation surveyed, recorded a very high trust (86%) in the media as a whole.

The other nations included in the poll were Britain, the US, Brazil, Germany, Egypt, India, Nigeria and Russia.

Of the 10 countries studied, what marks South Korea out is the degree of trust in sources on the internet.

Media retains trust Young challenge main media

Approximately 85% of South Koreans asked said they put a high value on accessing news over the internet, a much higher proportion than in other countries.

According to correspondents, it may be that the internet is so popular because of a low level of trust in the rest of the media - fewer than half those polled said they trusted the broadcast or newspaper journalism they were offered.

And 40% of South Koreans said they had changed their news source over the past year because of a lack of trust.

People in South Korea are also worried about interference in the media, both from government and from media executives.

Just over 70% said the authorities interfered too much, and just over 60% thought that media owners affected the way journalists reported events.

Government interference

Meanwhile in Indonesia, 98% of people polled said they had "a lot" or "some trust" in national television, easily the highest in the countries surveyed.

Approximately 90% also trusted national and regional newspapers and public service radio.

Overall, 86% Indonesians said they trusted the media as a whole, a figure only exceeded by Nigeria in the survey.

Indonesia is one of several countries where the media is trusted more than the government.

Three in every five Indonesians polled also thought the government interfered too much in the media.