Every seventh respondent watched the press conference from the beginning till the end.

MOSCOW, December 19, 2017. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data of a survey describing Russians’ interest in the president’s press conference and their assessments of the question-and-answer session involving journalists.

The Russian people’s interest in presidential press conference reached an all-time high in 2017: 60% of Russians (based on the December 15-17 survey data) are aware of the content of press conference; last year this share was 51%. Fourteen percent of Russians watched the press conference live without interruption (they were mainly older respondents rather than young Russians; 27% watched certain excerpts; a further 19% learnt about the most popular questions and answers from the news programs.

The assessments of the content outperform the previous years’ perceptions. Half of TV viewers and those who learnt about the content from the news programs (46%) say that the Putin’s performance was quite interesting; about one-third (31%) report to be interested in particular topics; a further 6% think that the press conference was interesting but too lengthy. The percentage of negative assessments is small: 5% consider the discussion to be boring; 5% are disappointed with the session.

The level of satisfaction with the outcomes of the 2017 press conference is equal to the previous year high (88%; from 62% of those aged 18-24 to 95% of those aged 60+). Ten percent of Russians who watched the press conference live or in the news programs are dissatisfied with the answers of the president.

Most of Russians can easily recall Xenia Sobchak’s question about candidate competition and opposition (19%). This is followed by the question asked by the director of a fish processing plant (initially pretended to be a journalist) (14%) and a question of a Ukrainian journalist about Donbass (8%). Social topics look less remarkable.

The VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on December 15-17, 9-10, 2017. The survey involved 1,800 Russians aged 18 and over, and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

The 2006-2016 results are based on household surveys.

*In 2011, the question referred to the D. Medvedev press conference; up to 2015, the question was “Did you follow the conversation between the Russian president and the mass media representatives?”

* Up to 2015 the question was “Which of the following statements can best describe your impression of the presidential press conference?”

** In 2011, the question referred to the D. Medvedev press conference

*In 2011, the question referred to the D. Medvedev press conference

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!