Written press most trusted, but online and social media most read by Maltese

Maltese respondents to a Eurobarometer survey on the media said they trust Malta’s written press – and its online presence – the most, second only to public television news stations.

Maltese citizens said they trusted traditional broadcast and print media, including their online presence, more than online news platforms and social media channels.

The Maltese said they trusted public television the most (45%), the written press and its online presence (40% - one point above the EU average), then private TV and radio (29%), online news platforms (25%), social media (12%), YouTube (7%), and social media influencers (4%).

Online news (65%) and social media (55%) however by far the most accessed of news sources, followed by TV (52%), radio (22%) and the written press (11%).

The Maltese respondents mirrored the EU average when asked how often they were personally exposed to disinformation and fake news: 35% said ‘sometimes’ but 30% said nevere or rarely, and 20% said ‘often’ – over 79% said they were “confident” they could recognise disinformation.

Crucially, the Maltese (65%) used social media to follow the news and current events, but also said they opened online news articles because of trust (34%), catchy titles (35%) or audivisuals (20%), and because of the relevance of the title to their interests (57%).

EU citizens trust traditional media most

The media play a major role in informing European citizens on the activities of the European Union and its institutions.

While national political topics interest citizens most (selected by 50% of respondents), European and international affairs (46%) is closely behind, on a par with local news (47%).

72% of respondents recall having recently read, seen or heard about the European Union, either in the press, on the Internet, television or radio. 57% have recently read, seen or heard something about the European Parliament.

Recall on EU news ranges between 57% in France and 90% in Romania, for news on the EP recall varies between 39% in France and 85% in Malta.

With 75%, television dominates as the primary news source, particularly for citizens over 55 years old. Next and quite distant are online news platforms (43%), radio (39%), and social media platforms and blogs (26%). The written press comes in fifth place with one out of five respondents (21%) citing newspapers and magazines as their primary news source. Younger respondents on the other hand are much more likely to use social media platforms and blogs to access news (46% of 15-24 year-olds vs 15% of 55+ year-olds).

Although traditional news sources – particularly television – are important, 88% of respondents get at least some news online via their smartphone, computer or laptop. 43% of respondents use the website of the news source (e.g. website of a newspaper) to access news online, and 31% read articles or posts that appear in their online social networks. Accessing news posts via their online social networks is even more important to young people, (43% of 15-24 year-olds vs 24% of 55+ respondents).

Paying for online news content is still rather the exception, as 70% of those who access news online would use only free news content or news services online.

Most trusted media sources

Whether it is via their ‘native channel’ or their online presence, 49% of respondents expect public TV and radio stations to give them truthful news, followed by the written press, selected by 39%. On the other hand, private TV and radio stations are cited by 27% as a trusted media source. Poland stands out as the only country where private TV and radio stations are the most trusted news source. In an even more radical shift away from traditional news sources in general, respondents in Hungary mention “people, groups or friends followed on social media” as their most trusted news source.

The importance of trust also resonates when respondents were asked what would make them likely to open a news article online. While 54% are motivated by the title being relevant to their interests, 37% say that it is important they trust the news outlet posting the news article.

Exposure to disinformation and fake news

Over a quarter of respondents (28%) think that, in the past seven days, they have very often or often been exposed to disinformation and fake news. Respondents in Bulgaria are overall the most likely to reply that they have often been exposed to disinformation and fake news in the past seven days, with 55% estimating they have been ‘very often’ or ‘often’ exposed, while respondents in the Netherlands are the least likely to say so (3% ‘very often’ and 9% ‘often’ responses).