Survey finds Romanians trust TV more than written press for news coverage

Romanians trust television and radio broadcasts for their news more than the written press, a new Eurobarometer survey finds.

The recently published Eurobarometer survey took an in-depth look at media habits and attitudes towards the threat of disinformation.

The survey shows that in Romania, television dominates as the primary news source – 80% of respondents said they had watched TV in order to access news in the past 7 days, slightly higher than the EU average of 75%. TV was the most preferred news source across all ages, although it was marked highest amongst people over the age of 40, and lower among those between the ages of 18 and 24 (58%).

With regard to trusting the information received, 43% said they trust public TV and radio stations (including their online presence), and 33% said they trust private TV and radio stations (including their online presence).

On the other hand, while online news platforms were the second most frequented sources of news, at 53%, only 23% of Romanians said they trust written press, whether it be online or in printed form. This was significantly lower than the EU average of 39%.

On the lower end of the spectrum were the opinions of people followed on social media platforms (18%), as well as newer forms of media such as blogs and podcasts (18%), and vlogs on YouTube and other video platforms (13%). Additionally, only 6% of respondents cited influencers on social media as credible news sources, close to the EU average of 5%.

When asked how often they think that they have been personally exposed to disinformation and fake news, most Romanian respondents said they thought they were being exposed fairly regularly, as 30% said they were sometimes exposed, 25% said they were often exposed, and 20% said they were very often exposed.

And while the risk of being disinformed seems high, 62% of Romanians said they are confident in their ability to recognize disinformation when they encounter it. According to the survey, the level of confidence in distinguishing between real news and fake news decreases with age and increases with the level of education.

The survey also showed that, while Romanians prefer free news sources to paid subscriptions, a surprising number had in fact paid for news content within the last 6 months, and so the preference for free content was stated by 60% of respondents, ten points lower than the EU average.

When it comes to the type of news that is deemed important, the four topics that Romanians are apparently most interested in are European and international affairs (53%), financial and economic news (48%), national politics (47%), and local news (46%).

Romania was one of only 8 countries to name European and international affairs as the most read news category, the others being Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Lithuania, Hungary, Portugal, and Finland.