Eurobarometer survey: Public service broadcasters are the most trusted in Bulgaria

The Bulgarian public service broadcasters are the most reliable news source, according to a Eurobarometer survey, conducted by the European Parliament.

44% of all interviewed in Bulgaria say that they trust the public broadcasters the most, including their online content. The second place for reliability is taken by social media, with 25% of all questioned Bulgarians stating that they trust the people and groups which they follow on social platforms the most. Other online platforms such as blogs and podcasts take 3rd place with 23%, while in 4th place are private TV companies and radio stations with 21%.

The tendency of public broadcasters to hold the position of most trusted media applies to the whole EU, with the exception of two countries - Poland and Hungary. In Poland, private televisions hold the position of most trusted media, while in Hungary the most reliable information sources are the people and friendly groups, followed on social media.

With 75%, television dominates as the main source of news in the whole EU and in Bulgaria it is an informational source for 86% of the questioned individuals. The second place in Bulgaria and in the whole EU is taken by the online news platforms, while in third place are the social media platforms and blogs. The radio is in 4th place and the press - in 5th.

Bulgaria is first in the EU by the percentage of people who hold the opinion that they were exposed to disinformation and fake news during the last 7 days. 55% of Bulgarians think that this happens “very often” or “often”. The least inclined to hold this opinion are the respondents from the Netherlands - as little as 3% believe that they meet with disinformation “very often” and 9% - that it happens “often”.

Reuters Institute: BNT still the most trusted TV media in Bulgaria

The citizens of the whole EU are most interested in national political issues (indicated by 50% of all respondents). The interest in European and foreign issues is lower (46%) and the same applies for regional news (47%).

72% of the respondents remember that not long ago they read, saw or heard something related to the European Union, whether it was in the press, on the Internet, on TV or on the radio. 57% indicated that they recently read, saw or heard something about the European Parliament.

The remembering of news related to the EU varies between 57% in France and 90% in Romania. The memorability of news about the European Parliament is between 39% for France and 85% for Malta.

Access to news publications through social media is even more important for the youth (43% of individuals between 15 and 24 years old compared to 24% of respondents over 55 years of age).

The payment for online news content is still considered an exception, since 70% of the people who have access to news online would use only news content or news services that are free of charge.

Eurobarometer’s rapid research presents a deeper view of the usage of the media and the citizens’ habits related to the media, with an examination of both traditional and online media. The International Social Research company Ipsos European Public Affairs interviewed a representative cross-section of EU citizens aged 15 and up in each of the 27 member-countries of the European Union.

Between April 26th and May 11th 2022 there were 52 347 interviews conducted through a web-based computer technology for interviewing (CAWI), with special online panels by Ipsos and its partner network used in the process.