Financial capability, the financial crisis and trust in news media

Abstract

Since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 the financial media has been analysed from the perspectives of experts and far less from the audiences who consume it. This article fills this gap by exploring public consumption of financial news and their levels of satisfaction. It explores another, less researched, issue; that of financial literacy, which is a major impediment to public understanding and is weaker among women, young people and the less affluent. Consequently, the study makes the following suggestions: financial journalism needs to respond to a wide audience and provide more useful, unbiased and accessible financial news; personal finance news, which is an under-researched genre, could build financial capability levels and might improve trust between media and its audiences; and the financial media should be considered a key player by policy-makers if they want to bolster financial capability.