Most Russians say they trust their media, although they’re OK with a bit of censorship and manipulation.

Lie to Me

by Barbara Frye

In many countries, it’s a routine polling question to ask 

people 

if 

they

 trust the media. And it’s usually routine to hear that they don’t.

But alongside such questions, a Russian polling agency has for years been posing another, more telling one. And the answers this year might help explain why the Kremlin has been able to orchestrate coverage of the Ukraine protests and Crimean crisis so easily.

To the question “In your opinion, are there important social issues and topics about which it is permissible to distort information in the public interest?” more than half of respondents – 54 percent – answered yes in a 23 March survey by the Public Opinion Foundation. That is 18 percent higher than in 2001 and 22 percent higher than last year. Only 28 percent disagreed, while 18 percent deemed the question “difficult to answer.”

To the question “In your opinion, are there important social issues and topics about which it is acceptable to remain silent in the public interest?” 72 percent said yes, while only 17 percent said no. That finding has been fairly consistent, with 71 percent agreeing in 2001 and 60 percent last year.

Even with such attitudes, almost four times as many respondents said they trust state media over non-state media. A huge majority, 88 percent, said they get their news from national television, which can be counted on to avoid criticizing President Vladimir Putin and which received the highest ratings for perceived objectivity of any media type.

A majority across all age groups said they think the country’s media cover current affairs in Russia objectively.

...........

Read more: www.tol.org