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Survey: Most citizens would choose to sanction the media that cover the electoral process inequitably

25 May 2021
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În Moldova
More than half of citizens would choose to sanction the media that provide unfair coverage of events during the electoral period, according to the results of the sociological survey “Vox Populi, May 2021: The role of the media in the electoral process in Moldova.” The research was launched on May 24 by the Association of Sociologists and Demographers (ASDM).

According to the survey, 67% of respondents agreed that the media should be sanctioned when they cover the electoral process inequitably. “15% disagree, have opposing views, and 18% – a significant group of respondents – could not comment on this question,” added the ASDM President Victor Mocanu during the presentation of the study.

According to him, the figures also show that the interest in politics grows before elections. At the same time, sociologists asked respondents what they think about the role of the media in influencing citizens’ interest in politics. About a third of respondents (32%) believe that the media greatly influence this interest, and 20% – to a large extent. On the other hand, 13% believe that the media have no role in this.

Regarding the role of the media in the election results, over 61% of respondents mentioned that the media contribute much or very much, 22% believe that the influence of the media on the election result is small, and 7% believe that the media have no influence at all.

Also, the vast majority of respondents (62%) believe that the media have a considerable influence on the socio-political developments in Moldova. About 53% are in favor of developing and implementing measures to protect media freedom, and 21% disagree with this. 26% of people said they did not know how to answer this question.

The survey data also show that citizens mostly turn to television newscasts for information about the electoral campaign (70%), followed by online portals and blogs (54%). 33% of respondents seek information in talk shows and analysis shows, and 26% – in newscasts and radio shows. About 12% of citizens choose newspapers as a source of information during electoral campaigns.

The most important source of information for citizens (43%) is television, and the second most important is the Internet (38%). Radio is important for only 2% of respondents. Things change when citizens are asked about the credibility of sources of information. The first here is the Internet, with 32%, and the second is television, with 27%.

THE POPULARITY OF FACEBOOK AND ODNOKLASSNIKI

Most respondents (41.1%) mentioned Facebook as the social network where they seek information about the socio-political situation in the country. Another 22.9% of respondents named Odnoklassniki. The least popular social networks are Vkontakte (9.3%) and Twitter (4.4%). At the same time, about 1/5 of the respondents mentioned that they do not use social networks, and 3% did not know or refused to answer.

The media from the European Union are the most trusted by respondents (49%), followed by Russian media (44%). The Romanian and Moldovan media have almost equal shares in terms of trust, of about 41%.

The survey was conducted based on questionnaires at the respondents’ homes, between May 14 and 22, on a sample of 1,183 people from 85 localities. The margin of error is +/- 3%.

 
 

 
 
 
 
asociatia sociologilor si demografilor