Where Media is More Trusted Than Government ...

Editor's Weblog reports on a poll conducted by Globescan, the BBC, Reuters and The Media Center which apparently "reveals that people around the world trust the media more than they trust their governments":

A recent international poll reveals that people around the world trust the media more than they trust their governments ... On average 61% said they trusted the media, compared to 52% who believed their government's explanations ... Trust in journalists was highest in Nigeria (88%, with 34% trusting the government), Indonesia (86% v 71%), India (82% v 66%) and Egypt (74%; government question not asked) ... Only in three countries did governments score higher than the media. In the US, 67% said they trusted the government compared with 59% prepared to put their trust in the media ... In the UK 51% trusted their government (media 47%) and in Germany 48% trusted officials (media 43%) ... The three other countries surveyed were Russia, South Korea and Brazil, where just 30% said they trusted the government version of events.

Upon closer analysis, it's difficult to see why Editor's Weblog are shouting so loudly about this one. Journalists usually love this kind of poll since it gives them perceived credibility where usually they only encounter ethical conspicuity, but look at the data of the poll closely and it reads almost like a satire. For a start, Nigeria, Indonesia, India and Egypt are hardly world centres of compassionate governence; indeed it would probably be hard in all these countries to find anyone more unpopular than the national government, since the populations have suffered decades of restrictions and supressions on issues of basic human rights or extremely corrupt and haphazard governence at the very least. The poll even admits that "the government question" was exempt in the case of Egypt.

Russia, South Korea and Brasil again are extremely dubious polling choices: democratic governments there are either only effective in an official capacity (in the case of Brasil) or relatively recently established (South Korea and Russia). So: in countries where most of the population has suffered or is still suffering the effects of brutal repression and corruption, journalists are more trusted than government ministers? On the other hand, in places where democracy has flourished to the prosperity of many, such as in the U.S.A. and the U.K., the reverse is true.

What does this say about the media?