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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.
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%.