MORI chairman Bob Worcester reports on the reporting of the Iraq war.

The British public very nearly to a man (sic) say they are "interested" in news coverage of the war in Iraq.

More than four people in ten (43 per cent) express the view that they are "very" interested and another 42 per cent are "fairly" interested, making 85 per cent in all. Meanwhile one person in twenty, five per cent, say they are not at all interested, and another one in ten, nine per cent, saying they are "not very interested".

Somewhat more men than women are "very interested" in news coverage of the war, but perhaps not by as wide a margin as one might expect: All 43 per cent; men 47 per cent; women 40 per cent.

Nine in ten young people (18 to 24) say they are "interested". What happened to "apathy" among young people then? And four in ten (39 per cent) young people say they are "very interested" in the news coverage of the war (the same percentage that voted in 2001). Only marginally fewer than older folks.

Only one in ten of the young people say they aren't interested, while 16 per cent of old people (65 and over) say they are not interested.

Nearly all (nine in ten) Conservative Party supporters and Labour Party supporters alike say they are interested, and just under half of each group say they are "very interested". But fewer of the Liberal Democrats say they are, 40 per cent of whom say they are "very interested", and one in six, 18 per cent, say they are not interested.

Three young people in four, 74 per cent, say they are spending more time watching, listening to or reading the news now than before the war started.

More viewing is especially the case with those who say they watch the digital channels most: BBC News 24 (68 per cent) and Sky News (67 per cent).

Labour supporters are much more likely to say they are spending more time now than before the war, at 63 per cent, against the Tories' 47 per cent and Lib Dems at 46 per cent.

Women are a somewhat more likely (54 per cent) to have increased news consumption than men (49 per cent) are. More men than women watch Channel 4 (42 per cent to 32 per cent), BBC News 24 (39 per cent to 31 per cent), and Sky (39 per cent to 35 per cent).

Those in middle class households, ABC1s, are more likely to watch BBC and Channel 4; C2Ds more Channel 5; with ITV1 and digital channels gaining equally middle and working class viewers.

More women tend to most watch the terrestrial channels, while with men the tendency is towards the digital/cable/satellite channels. Fewer young people watch Sky most; the Sky strength is in the 25 to 44 year old group.

Londoners are most likely to say they don't trust either, at 11 per cent against five per cent for rest of country. More working class people trust the telly; more middle class (especially the ABs) trust their newspaper.

Interest in coverage is significantly higher among supporters (48 per cent very interested) than opponents (39 per cent) of British involvement, and they have also increased their news consumption more. This suggests that following the coverage may push viewers towards supporting the war.