Credibility

Patrick Jaquin, Head of Communications Service, EBU

The French, radio, television, and the Internet.

The French have a fairly marked interest for the media, whether it be the press, radio, or television. And this interest is getting stronger (72% in January 2005 compared to 71% in 2004).

Those with the most enquiring minds are men, aged from 35 to 49, executives and professionals, and those with higher education. This curiosity is the same for those on the political left and on the political right.

Radio and television

53% of listeners consider that events really do happen as reported on the radio, or more or less. But 43% think that there are probably quite a few differences between how events happened and the reports, or that they probably didn’t happen at all as reported on the radio.

This latter view in on the increase (+5% in comparison with the 2004 survey).

Women generally trust radio more than men: 54% of women believe what they hear, compared to only 44% of men.

The most trusting listeners are in the 18-to-24 age range and the most sceptical in the 35-to-49 age range.

Executives and professionals (59%) trust radio the most and intermediate occupations the least (48%).

The higher their level of education – baccalauréat or higher education – the more the French are likely to believe what they hear on the radio (57 and 55%) and the lower education categories (BEPC, CAP, BEP) have the greatest doubts about what they hear (46%).

Political preference doesn’t affect the results. On the left 56% were trustful, compared to 55% on the right.

As for television news reports, viewers who believe that events really happened the way they are shown or roughly the way they are shown are not in the majority (45%) and this tendency to be suspicious is on the increase because the figure has dropped from 47% in 2004.

Furthermore, the idea that there are probably many differences between the way in which events happened and the way in which television showed them, or that what is shown probably never happened at all, has gained ground by 3%: 51% in 2004 and 54% in 2005.

Men are the most suspicious: 56%. In the 18-to-34 age range, 57%; executives and professionals, 64%; left-wing voters, 58%; and those with further education, 64%.

Internet

The Internet has still to prove itself. 57% of those surveyed do not hold any opinion of the news they read on the Web.

Only 23% of those surveyed think that events happened just as shown on the Internet or more or less, followed closely by the 20% who think that there is probably quite a large difference between the way events happened and the way they are shown on the Internet or who think that events probably did not happen at all as they are shown on the Internet.

The most credulous are young people from 18 to 24 and the least trusting are those of 65 and over. 

Major events in 2004

In fact the French generally consider that the media provided proper coverage of the tsunami in South-East Asia, Turkey’s application to join the EU, the Athens Olympics, the 60 anniversary of the D-day landings (100%) and the Madrid bombings. 

On the other hand, they felt they were close to saturation on the media coverage of the first gay wedding in France or on the law against wearing religious symbols in schools.

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Survey carried out for Le Point and La Croix / TNS Sofres, on 26 and 27 January 2005 out of a representative nationwide sample of 1,000 persons aged 18 and over, interviewed face-to-face in their own homes by TNS Sofres pollsters. Quotas (sex, age, profession of head of household) and stratification by region and city category.      

pj / ep