Attentive to the events of national politics, more so than one might think. Multi-channel users of information, but opinion is formed mainly through newspapers. This is how, a few days before the elections, the prevailing behaviour of northeasterners in keeping abreast of political events could be summarised according to the latest survey by Community Media Research. More than a third (37.5%) are constantly informed about what is happening in the political area, particularly in Friuli Venezia Giulia (54.6%). If we add that 56.1% follow political events from time to time (in general or discontinuously, especially among Trentino and Alto Adige citizens: 77.3%) and only 6.4% declare that they keep themselves updated little or not at all, we can state that the population - albeit to varying degrees - is more attentive to political issues than common opinion.
Finegil Newspapers, 25 February 2018
Courier of the Alps, 25 February 2018
The Little One, 25 February 2018
Messaggero Veneto, 25 February 2018
But through what means do people inform and then create opinions on these issues? The two aspects (information and opinion) are not identical and the results show the existence of differentiated behaviour. Firstly, the Internet (29.8%, but not social media: 11.5%), newspapers (24.1%) and TV (20.7%) compete for the podium of the main channels. Thus, there is a substantial tripartition of information sources that privileges the net in general, far more than the social ones (facebook, twitter) to which a large part of the information feeds instead. Secondly, if we consider the tools according to their analogy, we obtain that the Old Media (newspapers, TV, radio: 52.8%) all together still outnumber the New Media (internet, social: 41.3%) as sources for news. With some differences: to the Old Media adults (over 45 years of age) and those who have already decided to go to the polls are more affectionate; whereas the New Media younger people (up to 44 years of age), students, those who are disillusioned with politics and undecided about voting. Very few, however, rely on the networks of the Social Relations (associations, family members, colleagues: 5.9%) to get news about politics.
The outcome changes, however, if we consider how the opinion of North-easterners is formed. The Old Media lose slightly in intensity (46.1%), but remain firmly the first reference with newspapers at the top of the ranking, especially among the more adult (over 45 years). They lose importance, however, the New Media (30.0% and social sinking to 3.5%), but to a lesser extent among young people, students and those undecided to vote. Conversely, the networks of Social Relations strongly increase their weight (23.9%) in helping to form opinions (especially family and friends).
But there is a further aspect to which attention should be drawn. We are interested in political issues, but wary of the objectivity of information. We live in an uninterrupted stream of news that literally floods us from many sides: TV, radio, newspapers, blogs, social media. On the same episodes we can hear - depending on the source - sometimes opposing narratives, thus losing our sense of reality. This accumulation of news complicates disentangling oneself from it: it is like finding oneself in a quagmire from which it is difficult to get out. So much so that we paradoxically lose our bearings when faced with the vast amount of information. The spread of fake newsfake news designed to steer opinions, deals a further blow to the credibility of information. Lack of proper education in the use of new communication tools reduces the ability to distinguish the quality of news. It is no coincidence that social networks are carrying out advertising campaigns to help users distinguish false information or are studying how to block fraudulent accounts. Or that television broadcasts realise fact checkchecks on the veracity of assertions made by politicians in particular. But the overabundance of information also produces an erosion of the legitimacy of sources.
Already in a previous research (CMR), it was observed that journalists and mass media enjoy a positive assessment by a minority of the population (41.8%). The excess supply of information implicitly undermines the authoritativeness of the sources, because - in the eyes of a reader - they all place themselves on the same level. In this respect, the debate and controversy surrounding vaccines in recent months has been emblematic. The authoritativeness of medical luminaries or WHO research assume the same value as statements on a blog and word of mouth via social networks. The worlds of information (the plural is now a must) have one problem above all: credibility. For as many as nine-tenths of North-Eastern Europeans (89.9%), especially among the Veneto region (91.7%), newspaper and television news is often manipulated. But does the assessment change if we look at new information channels such as the Internet and the Net? The result is specular: only 29.0% believe that news found on networks and blogs is more well-founded and truthful than in the traditional media, with the Veneto people slightly more in favour (30.6%). Thus, both mature and new media are united by a general opinion: distrust. Almost none among them are perceived to be free from conditioning or able to be objective, independent in their reporting. These assessments are also reflected in the content of the information itself, again in a bipartisan manner. 72.5% believe that social networks and blogs do not nurture the critical capabilities of the people who frequent them, but only contribute to reinforcing the beliefs of those who use them. Criticism that finds greater consensus in Friuli Venezia Giulia (97.4%) and Trentino Alto Adige (97.5%). In other words, they are likened to new agit-prop of the digital communication era. Vice versa, newspapers and TV are channels through which it is indeed possible to delve into issues to a greater extent than on the web, but even in this respect it is a large minority of North-Easterners who hold such an opinion (35.4%). Credibility of sources and critical capacity of content are the two worms that run through the worlds of information. Information and opinions tread complementary but different paths. It is opinions, however, that guide choices: and to mature, they need contexts in which to be exercised, in relation to others. How to create an opinion, in the pervasive information society, is the educational challenge of the future.
Daniele Marini
Methodological note
Community Media Research, in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo Cassa Risparmio Veneto, carried out the Survey, which took place nationwide from 9 to 22 January 2018 on a representative sample of the population resident in Italy, aged 18 and over. The methodological aspects and the survey were taken care of by the Questlab company. The total number of respondents was 1,482 (out of 13,384 contacts). The data analysis was reproportioned on the basis of gender, territory, age group, occupational status and educational qualification. The margin of error is +/-2.5%. The survey was carried out with a visual survey through the main social networks and with a random sample that could be reached with the CAWI and CATI systems. Full document on www.agcom.it
