ERR trustworthiness up both among ethnic Estonians and other nationalities
Compared with last December, trust in ERR increased in March among both ethnic Estonian respondents and other nationalities, according to a survey commissioned by the Government Office.
The credibility of Estonian Public Broadcasting (those who "fully trust" plus those who "rather trust" it) rose among all respondents from 61 percent in December last year to 66 percent in the survey conducted this March.
A total of 27 percent do not trust ERR ("rather do not trust" plus "do not trust at all"). In December last year, the share of those who did not trust ERR stood at 29 percent.
ERR's credibility is very high among ethnic Estonian respondents: 75 percent of Estonians trust the public broadcaster. Among respondents of other nationalities, 48 percent trust ERR.
At the same time, ERR's credibility has increased in both respondent groups. In December last year, 71 percent of ethnic Estonian respondents and 41 percent of respondents of other nationalities trusted ERR.
By age group, trust in ERR is very high among those aged 15–24 (76 percent) and those aged 75 and over (also 76 percent). Trust is also above the overall average among those aged 25–34.
Trust is somewhat lower among those aged 35–49 and 65–74 (both 62 percent). Among those aged 50–64, trust in ERR (65 percent) is broadly in line with the overall average.
ERR's credibility is higher in regions with a larger share of ethnic Estonians in the population. Trust is highest among residents of North Estonia (81 percent). It is also above the overall support in South Estonia (73 percent), West Estonia (69 percent) and Central Estonia (68 percent).
Trust is below the overall figure in Tallinn (59 percent) and Northeast Estonia (53 percent). At the same time, in both regions — especially in Tallinn — trust in ERR has increased compared with December. In December, 52 percent of Tallinn residents and 50 percent of those in Northeast Estonia trusted ERR.
Trust in ERR also increases alongside higher levels of education and income.
Estonian portals the most important source of news
The survey conducted by Emor and commissioned by the Government Office also found that people in Estonia consider Estonian online news portals in Estonian or Russian to be the most important source of information for obtaining news and knowledge. This view was held by 54 percent of respondents.
Estonian-language television channels rank second as a news source at 44 percent, followed by social media at 38 percent. Radio is considered an important news source by 28 percent.
These are followed by communication with friends and acquaintances (20 percent), foreign media outlets (20 percent), national daily and weekly newspapers (11 percent), Russian-language Estonian television channels (10 percent), local newspapers (7 percent), political party information portals (3 percent), Russian news portals (2 percent) and Russian television channels (2 percent).
Compared with the previous survey, the importance of Estonian news portals has remained unchanged. The importance of social media and foreign media outlets has increased slightly, while the importance of Estonian television channels and radio stations has declined.
The survey was conducted by Emor between March 16 and 23 on behalf of the Government Office. A total of 1,637 people responded via web and telephone. The monitoring survey aimed to map public attitudes on key societal issues. The Government Office has commissioned such surveys regularly since 2022.
--
Editor: Marcus Turovski, Urmet Kook
