Hong Kong’s public radio and television broadcaster RTHK tops the latest survey measuring the credibility of the territory’s media.

RTHK, which runs seven radio stations and  produces public TV shows for other broadcasters, scored 6.99 on a scale of 1 to 10, while competitor Commercial Radio Hong Kong was a close second with 6.48, under the electronic media heading.

But the stats show trust in other media organisations has plunged, reports the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

ATV ranked bottom among the eight broadcasters after falsely reporting the death of former president Jiang Zemin in 2011.

Metro Radio came sixth out of eight broadcasters reviewed.

The respected Post newspaper came top of the print publication list, closely followed by the Economic Times.

Chinese-language daily Ming Pao slipped to third out of 22 print titles picked.

Overall the survey recorded the average credibility rating for all media at 6.18, its lowest level ever.

The stats have been compiled six times since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 by the Chinese University.

The results prompted calls for higher quality journalism from the leader of the city’s journalists’ union.

In an interview with SCMP, Shum Yee-lan, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association said: “The results ring warning bells for the industry. For news media, credibility is life, it’s everything. Economic strains and political pressure, especially from Beijing, have led to self-censorship.”

“To regain public trust, the media industry needs to draw a firm line – not to sensationalise and not to take sides, but to reveal things for the good of society,” Shum told the paper.