Results of our studies

IN BRIEF

Television is the most reliable source of information for most of Russians. Newspapers and internet media are les poplar.

MOSCOW, May 7, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of the survey concerning the most popular and most reliable forms of media according to Russians.

As two years ago, the basic source of information for Russians is television (62% in 2015, 60% in 2013); the popularity of newspapers is declining.  News, analytical and official websites are important for 16% of Russians (23% in 2013). And only 3% of Russians read newspapers to keep the track of events.

Forty-three percent of Russians trust news, analytical and official websites (20% trust, 23% rather trust them). If the event interpretation is ambiguous, 55% of Russians will trust the television version, and 18% will opt for the Internet interpretation (including blogs, social networks) (22% in 2013).

The levels of public trust in central Russian media are still very high; at the same time, the levels of trust in the international media are falling down. Seventy-five percent of Russians trust / rather trust the Central Russian television; every second Russian trusts the central press (54%) and central radio (52%). According to the 2007 data, the number of Russians who distrust foreign media has increased almost seven-fold (7% in 2007, 50% in 2015). The share of Russians who support the position of the international media has decreased; the portion of those who rather distrust this source of media has remained relatively stable (every fifth Russian for the recent eight years).  Local television is a reliable source of information for 66% of respondents (37% trust it, 29% rather trust it); regional radio is reliable for 47% of respondents (25% trust it, 22% rather trust it); every second Russian trusts local press (26% trust it, 25% rather trust it).

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted May 14-15, 2015. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 132 communities in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.

What is the main source of information for you about what is happening in the country?

(closed-ended question, one answer, informative answers)

 

07.2013

05.2015

Television

60

62

Radio

5

4

Newspapers

7

3

 

Magazines

<1

0

 

Internet – news, analytical and official  websites

23

16

 

Internet – social networks, blogs

6

 

Conversations with people 

4

5

 

None of the above-mentioned

1

4

 

Do you trust the following source of information?... central television  

(closed-ended question, one answer)

 

09.2007

04.2012

05.2015

Yes

28

36

43

 

Rather yes

47

41

32

 

Rather no

19

16

11

 

No

2

3

12

 

Don`t know

3

3

2

 

Do you trust the following source of information?central press

(closed-ended question, one answer)

 

09.2007

04.2012

05.2015

Yes

19

18

29

Rather yes

45

37

25

Rather no

25

21

14

No

3

7

18

Don`t know

8

17

15

Do you trust the following source of information?... central radio  (closed-ended question, one answer)

 

09.2007

04.2012

05.2015

Yes

18

17

30

Rather yes

41

31

22

Rather no

22

17

8

No

4

9

15

Don`t know

16

27

25

Do you trust the following source of information? … foreign nedia (closed-ended question, one answer)

 

09.2007

04.2012

05.2015

Yes

15

6

6

Rather yes

35

15

7

Rather no

22

24

19

No

7

19

50

Don`t know

20

37

18

Do you trust the following source of information?... news, analytical, official websites (closed-ended question, one answer)

 

05.2015

Yes

20

Rather yes

23

Rather no

14

No

21

Don`t know

22

Do you trust the following source of information?online blogs and social networks

(closed-ended question, one answer)

 

05.2015

Yes

14

Rather yes

18

Rather no

16

No

28

Don`t know

25

Do you trust the following source of information?... regional radio  (closed-ended question, one answer)

 

09.2007

04.2012

05.2015

Yes

13

14

25

Rather yes

36

27

22

Rather no

25

19

9

No

4

11

17

Don`t know

22

31

28

Do you trust the following source of information?... regional television  (closed-ended question, one answer)

 

09.2007

04.2012

05.2015

Yes

18

27

37

Rather yes

45

45

29

Rather no

24

16

11

No

3

5

15

Don`t know

10

8

8

Do you trust the following source of information?... regional press  (closed-ended question, one answer)

 

09.2007

04.2012

05.2015

Yes

14

17

26

Rather yes

42

37

25

Rather no

29

20

14

No

3

9

19

Don`t know

13

17

16

If the same event is covered in a different way in mass media (television, radio, magazines, newspapers, Internet), which source of information will you trust?

(closed-ended question, one answer)

 

07.2013

05.2015

Television

60

55

Radio

4

3

Newspapers

6

4

Magazines

1

1

Internet – news, analytical and official  websites

22

13

Internet – social networks, blogs

5

Conversations with people 

-

8

Don’t know, None of the above-mentioned

7

12

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!

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