57% of French people trusted radio (up 3% from 2006) compared to 51% for print press (up 3% too). Even television’s and the Internet’s credibility increased, up to 48% and 30% respectively (from 44% and 24%).

Though one may wonder whether the trustworthiness of all these media (especially the latter two) has in fact increased, these results seem to be a good sign.

On the other hand, the barometer also revealed that 63% of French people don’t think journalists work independently from political pressure, and that 60% were suspicious of journalists’ economic independence.

Many respondents also believed that some events tended to be over-inflated by the media, such as soccer player Zinedine Zidane’s misfit in the World Cup final (81%), the war in Iraq (51%), or the prohet Muhammad cartoon scandal (48%).

Better yet, the French public wants to hear more about ‘serious’ issues, such as global warming or the political entry of Romania and Bulgaria within the European Union (52% and 49% respectively).

75% of the respondents said they followed news with ‘big interest’ and 14% with ‘very big interest’.

The study also reminds of some cultural and national differences. In China for example, the print press is seen as biased while online channels are more credible.

Source: TarifMedia