83% of Young Bulgarians Get News on Websites and Social Networks, Polls

83% of the young Bulgarians get news on websites and social media networks, results of a survey by Alpha Research polling agency shows. It was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 1024 respondents and was focused on whether and to what extent the public recognize false news. The survey was presented at a Konrad Adenauer Foundation conference on “Fake news, propaganda and geopolitics” in Sofia on 27^th of June 2017.

Representatives of the middle-aged, university-educated people living in the capital and big cities are the people who most commonly distinguish between fake news and real news. People from smaller settlements with lower education and some younger people recognise fake news more rarely, which makes them a potential subject to their influence, Boryana Dimitrova from Alfa Research said.

According to the results, 24.7% of the surveyed can spot fake news every day, 16.8% - several times a week, 17.3% - several times a month. Adding those who identify such news several times a year, a total of about 71.5% actually claim they spot fake news, Dimitrova said.

The study shows that TV remains the most preferred source of information about topics of Bulgarian and international politics. There is a rapid development of news sites and social networks as a source of information ( 23.6% for sites and 22.5% for social networks). They are ahead of newspapers and magazines (18%) and radio (16.6%).

With the younger generation, aged between 18 and 30, the proportion of those who get informed by sites and social networks reaches 83% vs. 77% who get news from television.

Another aspect of the survey was the trust of Bulgarians in other countries and international organisations.

The data shows that the trust in the EU remains high.Dimitrova commented that despite the varied channels of information, propaganda and suggestions in the recent years, Bulgarian public opinion remains definite in its orientation both with regard to the EU and the collective security forces.