Was closing News of the World a good idea?

According to a new report by Toluna QuickSurveys, 60.2% of respondents agreed with News International’s decision to close the News of the World, with only 19.8% disagreeing. 20% said they did not know.

The report surveyed 1294 respondents.

When asked why they believe the paper is being shut down, there were a variety of answers. The most popular answer was because ‘it is a “toxic brand” that advertisers don’t want to be associated with (49.9%). This was closely followed by ‘serious malpractice and ethical blunders’ (47.59%).

The younger generation seemed more unsure of this question, with 27.47% of 18 – 34 year olds saying that they didn’t know why the paper was closing, compared to only 6.82% of the 55+ age group.

When all of the respondents were asked who was most to blame for the paper’s closure, most people said it should be ‘the journalists who allegedly hacked these phone accounts’ (33.41%).

Men were more likely to blame the News International managers (29.24%) than women were (18.36%).

Again, the younger generation seemed more unsure of this question, with 29.93% of 18 – 34 year olds saying that they didn’t know who to blame, compared to only 7.95% of the 55+ age group.

Read the full report here.