Disappointing data on the credibility of the Greek media in the new research of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Government leverage in focus, only 7% believe that the media in our country are independent.
It is typical that our country has the lowest percentage of citizens who believe the press is free from undue political (7%) or business (8%) influence in 46 countries.
According to his report Reuters Institute Digital News Report on the situation in Greece, Perceptions of media bias have been central to the political debate over the past year. Reuters reports on "Petsa list", as he states, the entire controversy focused on how certain media outlets were subsidized to broadcast the news about the Covid-19. Reference is also made to the Vouliwatch report and the requests for transparency, regarding the criteria on which the financial aids were based.
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism states that the situation comes as a result of the vague criteria for state subsidies to the country's news organizations. At the same time, reference is made to the Kalogritsa case and to the television licenses. As the Institute notes, in this environment It is not surprising that Greece has the lowest percentage of readers who estimate that the press is free from political leverage (7%) or business interests (8%), among 46 countries surveyed.
The online news market in Greece is also fragmented. The Institute notes that many news sites in the country were created by journalists who worked in "traditional" media and moved into the business sector. Nonetheless, in Greece there is still no culture of subscription for receiving news - information material. Parallel, last year interest in news in Greece fell by seven percentage points, as of course in most of the countries examined in part due to justified fatigue due to the constant flow of information related to the pandemic and its management.
The Institute emphasizes that Greek publishers are gradually investing more in Podcasts. In fact, "traditional" media are now moving into the digital age, with Kathimerini being mentioned, among other things.
Also, in Greece the use of social media remains high. About seven out of ten (71%) of the country's internet users receive news this way every week, which comes as a result of fragmentation in the online media market. Publishers allocate significant time and resources to their social media development strategies, as these platforms bring a large share of traffic to news websites. TikTok, Instagram and Facebook are still in the top positions, with 53% of the "digital" population using them for information.
The Institute observes that during the vaccination periods, the discussion about the role of social media intensified in our country, especially due to the anti-vaccination on Facebook. The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism stands for the report of the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who had called social media as a "threat to democracy", while reference is also made to the Law passed in Parliament which makes the spread of fake news, a criminal offense.
Parallel, The TV news market remains strong in the country. The "highlights" of the pandemic period refer to the reopening of MEGA which regained a leading position in the list of non-digital news sources.
Also, reference is made to ERT which, as it is emphasized, has entered the digital age. The Russian invasion of Ukraine also ended the official cooperation between the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency and the Russian state news service, Rossiya Segodnya.
According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, internet distribution in the country is at 73% in a population of 11,1 million people. Just 11% pays to receive updates.
In terms of the devices used, the Smartphones they displaced the computers. TV use also fell by 7 points, before the start of the war in Ukraine. The use of social media was not affected. Digital information comes first.
It is noted that the Greek report signs Mr. Antonis Kalogeropoulos from the University of Liverpool.
In total, Finland remains the country with the highest levels of overall confidence (69%), recording an increase of four points within the pandemic.
In the US, on the other hand, confidence fell by three points while the country remains at the bottom of the survey, along with Slovakia, at 26%. Reliability in Greece is at a low of 27%, in the last places in Europe along with Slovakia, and Hungary.
In Europe there are falls in Romania (-9), Croatia (-7), Poland (-6), Switzerland (-5), Austria (-5), Greece (-5), Italy (- 5) and Spain (-4). In Latin America, confidence is down in Brazil (-6) and Colombia (-3).
The picture is mixed in Africa, with a drop in Kenya (-4) but a strong increase in South Africa (+9) and Nigeria (+4). Finally, in Asia, confidence has risen in the Philippines (+5) and Japan (+2), but has fallen in Malaysia (-5) and Taiwan (-4).
Only a small minority believe that the news is free from unwarranted political influence: in Greece (7%), in Hungary (15%), in Bulgaria (15%), in Slovakia (16%), in the Czech Republic (17%), in Croatia (18%) and in Poland (19%). We see similar low levels in some Southern European countries, such as Italy (13%) and Spain (13%), where there is also a strong tradition of partisan-political influence in the media. In Finland, 50% believe that the media are independent.
However, a large minority also question the priorities of the news organizations themselves. In all markets, only 19% say that all or most news organizations put the social interest first, above their own commercial or political interests. In practice, there is a cynicism about the underlying motivations of many publishers or perhaps a harsher realism on the part of readers.
Also, the coverage of international developments, but also the coverage of the pandemic, seems to have affected the credibility of state media, such as the BBC. Confidence in the BBC has dropped by 20 units in five years.
Η Νορβηγία remains first in news subscriptions.
Overall, Facebook and YouTube remain first in use for information.
Finally, our country is in the first places in the world in terms of receiving news in text form.
In conclusion, Reuters notes that more people are disconnecting, interest in news is declining, selective news avoidance is increasing and trust is not a given. The crisis in Ukraine, and before that the COVID-19 pandemic, reminded people of the value of accurate and fair reporting of sources in the transmission of information, in a function that is as close as possible to the truth. At the same time, toxic internet discussions remove many people - temporarily or permanently from social media, something that of course is not observed in our country. In practice, this is reflected in the increase in subscriptions, worldwide.
Successive crises around the world have increased the world's need for valid information, redefining the values of the Media themselves who are confronted with themselves and the work they do (or do not do).
Finally, stress has played its part. Overall, about 4 in 10 respondents (38%) said that they happen to deliberately avoid information, compared to 29% in 2017. Over 5 years, this percentage has doubled in Brazil (54%) and the United Kingdom (46 %). In France it is at 36% (compared to 33% in 2019 and 29% in 2017).
This attitude of avoiding, or at least selecting, news is less prevalent in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark (20%) and Japan.
To justify themselves, about half (43%) say they avoid the news because it is repeated, mainly Covid news and political news. A percentage that reaches 8% and mainly concerns young people states that they avoid the news because it is too complicated to understand. Investigators believe that this can motivate the media to use simpler language and better explain complex issues.
29% of people who avoid the news believe that they are not objective.
