Opinion Poll: How Do the People of Moldova Perceive the Role of the Media?

According to the results of the sociological survey “Perception of the Role of the Media in the Democratization of Moldovan Society”, presented Wednesday, May 31, by the Association of Sociologists and Demographers of Moldova, television, the Internet, and radio are the most important sources of information for citizens.

Four out of ten respondents believe that television is the most important source of information, followed by the Internet, radio, newspapers, and magazines. In terms of public trust, the media rank second after the church. Thus, 7.9% of respondents trust the media very much, 39.8% trust it to some extent, 30.2% have little trust, and 16.7% of respondents have no trust at all.

In terms of free access to information, 37.6% believe that the population of Moldova has limited access to information, and 16.5% – quite a lot of access.

Sociologists have also analyzed the relationship between the media and politics. Asked whether the media offer equal opportunities to all political parties to publicize their election campaigns, more than 60% answered negatively, and just 14.6% positively.

At the same time, 41.5% say that the media have much influence on election results, while 19.6% consider it has very much influence.

The study was conducted on a sample of 1,172 respondents from 79 communities in the period of May 20-28, 2017.