MOSCOW, 13 January 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey to mark Russian Press Day.

Who reads newspapers?

Today 14% of Russians read print press publications on a regular basis; a further 21% used to read them but do not read them anymore. More than half of Russians did not read print media before and do not read it now (63%), however it does not mean that there is no one in this group who reads e-versions of periodicals. At the same time, there is a group of respondents who appreciate print media as a major source of information: respondents aged 60 read newspapers and magazines twice as often compared to Russians in general (26%). This percentage is also higher among rural area inhabitants (20%) and active TV viewers (33%, or every third).

Local press vs. Internet

The list of the most popular newspapers that Russians read is headed by local or district newspapers; every third respondent in this group read this type of newspapers (30%). The percentage is higher in rural area and small settlements with under 100 thousands inhabitants (39-40%). Presumably, urban dwellers, young respondents and working-age individuals catch up with the local news using the Internet and social media; whereas older age group and rural area inhabitants still opt for traditional media. Other newspapers mentioned by Russians are “Komsomolskaya pravda” (12%) and “Argumenty i fakty” (10%). The top three most popular periodicals among as viewed by those who abandoned print newspapers looks the same: a district newspaper and federal periodicals, “Komsomolskaya pravda” “Argumenty i fakty” (17%, each).

The main reason why Russians stop reading print newspapers (21%) is that print newspapers are being replaced by online versions: every third respondent in this group adheres to this stance (29%). Another important reason is increasing prices for newspapers and magazines (18%); in total these reasons point to higher Internet availability. And yet another reasons is that “the newspaper and the magazine are not published anymore” (11%).

Screen vs paper

Over the recent eight years the percentage of Russians who would prefer to read an interesting article in a digital format has increased 1.8-fold.  Sixty-two percent of respondents prefer online versions (vs 34% in 2014). Simultaneously, the share of those who choose a paper-based version has decreased from 51% in 2014 to 32% this year. Print versions are popular with respondents aged 60 and older (57% vs. 11% and 12% of the 18-24-year-olds and 25-34-year-olds, respectively), rural area inhabitants (44% vs. 22% and 20% of metropolitan residents and million-plus cities), active TV viewers (76%) and residents of the Russian Far East (44%).

Importantly, these trends should not be interpreted as a reduction in the number of the newspaper and magazine audiences; they more likely show the evolution of the reading practices, orientation towards electronic formats of periodicals.   

VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted 23 December, 2023. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted according to 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 to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

Key effectiveness indicators, December 23, 2022:  cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.8193; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0200; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1131.  Calculations based on corporate standards: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/

* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.

** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.