Poll: Television remains dominant source of information in terms of trust

Television remains the dominant source of information in terms of trust, while Facebook remains the leading social media platform, according to an opinion poll commissioned by Expert Forum from the Political Rating Agency."Television remains the dominant source of information in terms of trust, including among people with higher education, despite the prevailing view that it has lost its relevance. It is possible that some of this television consumption is indirect, through TV content picked up and redistributed on social media. The sovereigntist audience has the media consumption profile most strongly oriented towards social media and audiovisual formats and the least towards online news in written form. Undecided voters and non-voters stand out through their distrust of any source rather than a preference for a particular type of media. For them, believing in nothing seems to be a form of wisdom or realism," Expert Forum said.According to the research, supporters of traditional parties have greater trust in television and online media, with trust increasing alongside educational attainment."At the opposite end, AUR supporters have greater trust in social networks and family, a profile also found among people with less than upper-secondary education. At the same time, a significant proportion of AUR voters say they have no source of information they trust," EFOR said.According to the poll, there is a "big" difference between Facebook and TikTok: "Facebook is good at mobilising communities, while TikTok is good at rapidly generating visibility and emotion and penetrating new bubbles.""Social networks and family are more important as sources of information for young people, particularly those under 39 and people living in rural areas. Consequently, young people's media consumption profile is closer to that of the sovereigntist audience than to the profile of traditional media consumers," the researchers said.For the general public, Facebook remains more widely used than TikTok, despite the latter's growing visibility and political influence."TikTok is used most by AUR [Alliance for Romanians' Union] voters, people with lower levels of education and those living in rural areas. From this perspective too, the profile of young people is close to these categories with sovereigntist leanings. The similarity between the media profile of young people and that of the sovereigntist audience may indicate a shared inclination towards anti-establishment dissent, even though the motivations of the two groups differ," the poll also found.The poll was commissioned by EFOR as part of the Poll/Int barometer conducted by the Political Rating Agency (ARP) from 30 June to 3 July, based on 1,174 interviews with the Romanian population aged over 18.The method used was an online opt-in panel with two-phase weighting based on age, sex, education, urban or rural residence, region, internet use and previous voting behaviour, according to official data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) and the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP). The poll has a statistical margin of error of 2.8%.