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Should opinions be shared as part of news reporting?

13th - 20th October 2023

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48458

Total votes

12839

Age 5-11 votes

35619

Age 11-16+ votes

For this VoteTopic, we were fortunate enough to work with Facing History & Ourselves, which focuses on the news, impartiality, and differentiating fact from fiction. By exploring the ways that opinion is expressed in news reporting, voters reflected on how helpful personal views are in expanding our understanding of the wider world.

Primary 7-11, Secondary, 16+ & College voters were asked: “Should opinions be shared as part of news reporting?”, while Primary 5-7 voters discussed: “Are feelings more important than facts?”

child with microphone

5-11 voter

“I want to see opinions because I want to hear different viewpoints.”

Teenager

11-16 voter

“Opinions are biased and news reporting should only be fact based.”

Student

16+ voter

“We thought that opinions are useful to explain something, and that everyone should be allowed to have one. But, also in the news, it should be made very clear what is opinion and what is fact.”

There was a 50/50 split amongst Primary pupils for the question, "Should opinions be shared as part of news reporting?"

  • Interestingly, the Primary 7-11 vote was divided for whether opinions have a place in news reporting.
  • We received almost 9,000 votes for the question in this age bracket.
  • 5-7-year-olds were discussing whether feelings were more important than facts. 70% of the almost 4,000 who voted, chose 'Yes'.
57% of Secondary students voted 'No'.

  • Secondary students had a slight majority, with 57% arguing that opinions shouldn't be included as part of news reporting.
  • This still left a substantial number voting 'Yes', with some arguing that it is important to hear the viewpoints of others.
  • Many who voted 'Yes' clarified that opinions should always be labelled as such and if used, should be given on both sides of an argument.
68% of College & 16+ students voted 'No'.

  • College and 16+ voters had a more decisive outcome, with almost 70% voting 'No'.
  • 'No' voters argued that the news should not include bias. They also highlighted the subjectivity of opinions.
Many said it's important for the news to be impartial but that opinions had an important place in the media, outside of news reporting.

  • The most common argument was that the news should be an impartial platform for viewers to hear the facts of an issue. Including opinions tarnishes this impartiality and some voters argued that this could have dangerous consequences.
results

Feedback from our Impact Partners

Thank you to Vanessa Harriss from the Week Junior for responding to what the children said this week.

The Week Junior UK are a weekly magazine for children that covers current issues as well as other topics around the world.

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