Maltese People Are Twice As Likely To Trust Government Over Written Press
Maltese people are almost twice as likely to trust the Maltese government over the written press, with only 32% of people residing in the country currently trust the written press, well below the 47% EU average.
An EU Barometer survey shows how the government currently enjoys a 63% trust rating, significantly higher than the 35% EU average, evidenced by the Labour party’s two resounding electoral successes in 2013 and 2016.
Political parties are not granted the same courtesy, holding the trust of 36% of the respondents… still an increase from the 18% recorded throughout Europe
The police (68%) and the army (77%) both scored highly in the survey, while conversely, social networks (24%) and the internet (39%) struggle to gain the trust of the majority of residents.
The EU itself is trusted by 56% of the country.
While 53% trust the television, around 79% of Maltese residents watch it almost daily, with 92% watching it at least once a week
The internet and social media are also well used, with 72% and 65 % using it at least once a week respectively.
Daily written newspaper readership has gone down to 10%, while just 31% claim to read the written press at least once a week. Radio is listened to daily by 42% of respondents.
When it comes to main sources of information on political manners, television remains the most popular, with 73% using the media for local political matters. Websites also hold significant importance with 46% of people using it as their main source of news. Meanwhile, the written press stands at a lowly 14%.
The national report outlines the main findings of Wave 90 of the Standard Eurobarometer. Fieldwork was conducted between the 8th and 22nd November 2018. A total of 503 face–to–face interviews were conducted with respondents residing in Malta and aged 15 years and over.
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