Skopje, 24 March 2025 (MIA) – Although the citizens question information reported by media outlets, they rarely take measures to fact-check, shows a public opinion survey titled “Citizens’ practices and perceptions about getting informed and dealing with disinformation” of the Institute of Communication Studies. Conducted in February by the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis”, it includes a representative sample of 1,000 people over 18 from across the country. 

Asked about their capability to recognize disinformation, 41 percent of the respondents said they sometime can, 29 percent believe they can always detect the truthfulness of the information and 11 percent admitted they cannot differentiate fake from accurate news. 

As high as 80 percent of respondents said they rarely or never check who wrote the news and 71 percent rarely or never check who published it. 

Asked how often they shared information that later turned out to be inaccurate, majority of citizens, 52 percent, said it happened sometimes. As high as 40 percent said they are convinced the information they share is accurate. As regards the sources of disinformation, 36 percent of respondents believe that the political parties are the main source that spreads disinformation; 12 percent point at the media outlets and four percent at state institutions. However, almost half of the respondents, 47 percent, said all of them together are usually the source of disinformation conveyed to the public. 

Media confidentiality perception, according to the survey, is divided: 29 percent question everything that is being published and also 29 percent check the same news released by other relevant media outlets, whereas as little as 21 percent believe that if something is published, it must be true. Regarding the quality of media contents, 74 percent of respondents are of the opinion that the media report only basic or superficial information lacking in-depth analysis. Healthcare, public finances and education are some of the areas considered of high public interest, according to the respondents. 

“The survey shows that 51 percent of the citizens follow the news several times a day with 27 percent doing it once a day. This draws a conclusion that a high percentage of the respondents follow the news on various topics. TV outlets, social media and online portals remain the most common sources of information, whereas less that 10 percent relay on personal contacts to receive news,” said the press release. 

The Institute carried out the public opinion survey as part of the “Use Facts” project, which is supported by the British Embassy in Skopje.

MIA file photo