Over the last three years the share of Russians who consider television to be the most important media has decreased from 60% to 52%.

MOSCOW, May 3, 2017. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of a survey devoted to the media Russians use to get news about Russia and the world as well as the most trustworthy media.

Television is still the main source of news for Russians, however its importance is declining as time goes by (62% in 2015; 52% in 2017). Respondents are less likely to mention radio and newspapers (3% and 4%, respectively). Simultaneously, the Internet’s importance is growing (including online information sources, social media and blogs): 32% of respondents use the Internet to get news (22% in 2015). The World Wide Web is the main source of news for 65% of persons aged 18-24 and 50% of those aged 25-34.

Central television is still at the top of trustworthiness rating; however the trend is declining. The Trust Index * regarding central television is 42 points today, in a range from -100 to 100 (in 2012 it was– 58 p.). Seven out of ten Russians (70%) trust this media source. The regional television index is lower (34 p.); the share of respondents who give positive answers makes up 63%. Other media are less trustworthy according to half of Russians; absolute outsiders are foreign TV programs, newspapers, magazines; their trust index has been negative for more than five years (-43 p.).

If certain event is interpreted in a contradictory way by different media, Russians trust television first (46%), though this share has declined from 60% in 2013. One quarter of respondents opt for online media and blogs (25%). Traditional sources of information such as radio (2%) and newspapers (2%) are less popular compared to the word of mouth (11%).   

Unbiased coverage depends on the topics, according to Russians; more than half of respondents think that news items about natural disasters (70%), the activity of the president (55%) and Russia’s global image (51%) are unbiased; respondents are less likely to trust news about economic situation, the activity of the opposition and some other topics.

*Index of Trust in media shows the level of trust of Russians in different media. The higher the Index is, the higher the level of trust is. The Index is based on the question “Do you trust in the following mass media?” and is calculated as the sum of positive and negative answers. The Index can vary between -100 and 100 points.  

The VCIOM survey was conducted on April 20-24, 2017, in 130 settlements, 46 regions and 8 federal districts of Russia. The sample size involved 1600 persons. The survey was conducted with multi-stage stratified sample based on general rule of walking and quotas at the final selection stage; the sample is representative of the Russian population aged 18 and over according to sex, age, education, type of settlement.  The margin of error (taking into account the design effect) with 95% confidence interval does not exceed 3.5%. The survey method is community-based structured face-to-face interviews. Apart from the margin of error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the field work should be taken into account 

* In 2014 this answer option was not offered.

* In 2007, 2012 these answer options were not offered.

* In 2013, these answer options were not offered.

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!