Media Consumption in Ukraine: Change in Media Needs and Defeat of Russian Propaganda

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The nationwide survey was commissioned by Detector Media NGO and carried out by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation in cooperation with the Razumkov Center's sociological service from December 17 to 22, 2021.

The study was conducted due to the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (DANIDA) 

The sample consists of 2018 respondents and covers the adult population of Ukraine, except for the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as well as parts of the Donetsk and the Luhansk regions.

The survey was conducted using the method of face-to-face interviews on a stratified multi-stage sample using random sampling at the first stages of sampling (sample stratified by regions and types of settlements) and quota method of respondents, by sex and age quotas at the final stage. The results are representative of the main socio-demographic indicators: sex, age, macro-region and type of settlement.

The maximum theoretical error of the survey (excluding the design effect) does not exceed 2.3%.

Macro-region composition:

• West - Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil and Chernivtsi regions;
• Center - Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Chernihiv regions and the city of Kyiv;
• South - Mykolayiv, Odesa and Kherson regions;
• East - Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions.

For comparison, the study used the results of All-Ukrainian polls conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in February 2018 and February 2019 and the sociological service of the Razumkov Center in August 2020 on behalf of the Detector Media NGO.

General conclusions

The most common source of information for Ukrainians about events in Ukraine and the world remains the traditional media, namely national television channels. The share of Ukrainian television viewers among respondents is 67%. Other traditional media - newspapers and radio - are far behind in the coverage of audience: social networks account for 44% of consumers, Ukrainian online media for 29%, messengers for 16%, while Ukrainian newspapers only for 6%, and radio for 7%. Personal connections are a very popular source of information among Ukrainians. 28% of respondents said that they learn about current news from relatives, friends and acquaintances. Among Russian media, Russian television channels have the largest share of viewers (5%), which is less than the audience of any all-Ukrainian type of media.

Most often, Ukrainians watch TV channels whose program combines newscasts with entertainment content. The most popular of them are 1+1 (43%), channel Ukraine (34%), STB (32%) and ICTV (31%). Less than 10% of respondents watch television channels, which mostly broadcast news and political talk shows.

There are twice as many respondents who watch certain TV channels as there are respondents who trust these TV channels. However, the list of leading TV channels by trust largely coincides with the list of the most popular ones: 21% trust 1+1, 17% trust channel Ukraine, 15% trust STB and 13% trust ICTV. Despite the status of a public broadcaster, trust in UA: Pershyi ranges around 5%.

The vast majority of Ukrainians (56%) choose Facebook among social networks for information. Instagram (25%) and Viber (24%) close the top three. At the same time, Telegram is far behind Viber in the amount audience. It is used by only 13% of respondents mainly for local news (20%), information about community life (19%), political events (20%), economic situation (16%), health care (15%) and topical areas of interest of respondents (18%).

When choosing the media as a source of information, most respondents said that they pay attention to the interestingness of materials (57%), impartiality of information (38%), promptness of coverage (38%), convenience of presentation (33%) and closeness of views (29%). Markers of media transparency, such as information about the owner and sources of funding, significantly influence the choice of less than 5% of respondents.

Information about media owners is not very relevant for Ukrainians; only if the choice of media should be based on a limited range of characteristics. To a direct question, 36% of respondents answered that it is important for them to know the owners of the media. In addition, 46% believe that they know some of the owners of the media where they regularly receive information. Petro Poroshenko's ownership of Channel 5 (53%) and Ihor Kolomoiskyi's ownership of 1+1 (55%) are the most noticeable, while less than 20% of respondents know that Viktor Pinchuk owns TV channels of the StarLightMedia media group. The relative majority of Ukrainians attribute the Rada TV channel (33%), Dom TV channel (12%) and UA: Pershyi (19%) to the state ownership. Only 9% consider society as the owner of UA:Pershyi.

According to 34% of Ukrainians, the state should not regulate the work of bloggers. The other 30% have the opposite view. The main arguments against state regulation are the respondents' support for the image of the Internet as a free space for expression (65%). A quarter of citizens who oppose government regulation of bloggers do not believe in the effectiveness of government regulation policy at all. Among those who support government regulation, the vast majority (61%) believe that it should apply to all bloggers without exception.

As of the end of 2021, the vast majority of Ukrainians (68%) believe that the conflict in Donbas is the result of Russian aggression with use of local militants, while 65% of respondents believe that Russia was the first to start the war in Donbas. Ukrainians are also unanimous in their assessment of the events of the Revolution of Dignity: 59% consider the events of 2013-2014 to be a rightful uprising of the people against the authoritarian government. 

More ambiguous is the issue of the presence of Russian cultural actors in Ukraine and Ukraine's cooperation with the International Monetary Fund. 44% of respondents support the ban on certain artists and Russian films, as they consider it to be a necessary step. 37% disagree with this and consider such ban as a restriction of citizens' rights. Similarly, opinions were divided in the assessment of cooperation with the IMF. 38% believe that such cooperation will provide Ukraine with the necessary economic assistance, 40% believe that it could pose a threat to Ukraine to be governed externally.

68% of Ukrainians periodically have doubts about the veracity of the information they receive from the media or social networks. The most popular fact-checking strategies in such cases are the search for information in alternative sources (40%); thinking about who benefits from this way of interpreting events (32%); perception of such information as one of the possible versions of events (24%). Only 6% reported that in such cases they turn to fact-checking organizations.

As of today, Ukrainians experience an acute shortage of information in the information space to expose corruption activity (46%), analyze and explain the economic situation in Ukraine and the world (41%) and highlight positive changes in the state and society (37%). The least relevant, according to people, is the increase in the amount of materials about culture (12%), materials for children (12%) and materials about life in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea, the Donetsk and the Luhansk regions (7%).

There is no unanimity among citizens about what is more important: the freedom of speech or the protection of the state from disinformation: 41% believe that it is freedom of speech, 42% that it is protection of the state, while 17% are undecided. As for disinformation, a quarter is in favor of the state legislating the work of those who may spread disinformation. 23% believe it is necessary for the state to prosecute disinformers by law. 21% of respondents are ready to support the state in the fight against disinformation if the state focuses its efforts on recording disinformation and debunking it. It is worth noting that when respondents were asked only about methods of combating disinformation, only 9% said that the state should not take any targeted action, as this could impair freedom of speech.

Evaluating the communication of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, 60% of citizens believe that the President now has no obstacles to communicate his position to the population. Those who think that the President cannot fully express his position believe that Volodymyr Zelenskyi needs to work harder on the quality of his arguments for greater persuasiveness (38%). About 25% of respondents are also in favor of the President creating a state TV channel and nationalizing TV channels owned by the oligarchs.

1. Which sources do you most often use to receive information about the state of affairs in Ukraine and abroad? (not more than three answers)

2. What Ukrainian TV channels do you watch most often? (not more than five answers)

3. Which of the following Ukrainian TV channels do you trust most? (not more than five answers)

4. Which social networks do you use to receive information about the state of affairs in Ukraine and abroad? (several options are possible)

Telegram channels named by respondents:

5. Information of what field do you usually receive from Telegram channels? (several options are possible)

6. What is important for you when choosing the media as a source of information about events in Ukraine and the world? (several options are possible)

7. How important is it for you to know owners of the media you watch / listen to / read?

8. Do you know who owns the media that you regularly read / watch / listen to?

9. Do you know who owns such TV channels?

10. In your opinion, should the state regulate the information activities of bloggers in the same way as it currently regulates TV channels and radio stations?

11. If you think the state should not regulate bloggers, then why? (multiple choice answers;% among those who believe that the state should not regulate the activities of bloggers)

12. If you think the state should regulate bloggers, then who exactly should be regulated? (multiple choice answers;% among those who believe that the state should regulate the activities of bloggers)

13-17. Please choose the one of the interpretation of events or actions by the state from the opossite two that best reflects your personal opinion:

 13.

14.

15.

 16.

 17.

 18. Do you often have doubts about the veracity of messages in the media or on social networks that you read?

19. What do you usually do if you have doubts about the veracity of the message in the media or on social networks? (several options are possible)

 20. In your opinion, what should be more present in the Ukrainian information media? (not more than five answers)

 21. What should the state do to counteract disinformation?

22. What is more important: freedom of speech or protection of the state from disinformation that could harm its territorial integrity and national security?

 23. In your opinion, does President Volodymyr Zelenskyi have the opportunity to fully communicate his position to the citizens of Ukraine in the information space?

 24. If you think that President Volodymyr Zelenskyi does not have the opportunity to express his position at all or has only partially, what should he do to have such an opportunity? (several possible answers;% among those who believe that President Zelenskyi does not have the opportunity, or has only a partial opportunity to express his position)

 The nationwide survey was commissioned by Detector Media NGO and carried out by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation in cooperation with the Razumkov Center's sociological service from December 17 to 22, 2021.