This is the lowest score for asserting the usefulness of journalism since the launch of the Viavoice barometer for the Assises internationales du journalisme, of which Radio France is a partner.
84% of French people believe that journalism is a useful profession, according to a Viavoice* survey for the International Journalism Conference in Tours published on Tuesday March 28 in partnership with Radio France, France Télévisions, France Médias Monde and West France. Down six points from 2022 (90%), this score was 91% at the heart of the health crisis in October 2020. This is the lowest score for asserting the usefulness of journalism since the launch of the barometer. The usefulness of the profession is more shared by young people aged 18-24 (88%) than by French people aged 25 to 34 (80%) and those aged 60 and over (85%).
Journalism is still perceived as a well-established institution: 83% of respondents believe that the profession will always exist (down four points compared to 2022) and 84% consider that journalism is essential in a democratic society (down three points over a year). ” These slight setbacks, to be indexed to the socio-political situation, are to be taken seriously.warns Viavoice in its survey.
The vast majority of French people place their trust in information from the professional media (76%, compared to 78% in May 2022). They are all the same 10% to have confidence in the information relayed by their entourage, in particular on social networks. This score records one point more than in the previous edition. It is more young people aged 18-24 who place the most trust in this relayed information (21%).
The bias of journalists pointed out
For one in four French people (26%), these last three years, marked by the coronavirus, the war in Ukraine and the climate emergency, have rather reinforced their desire to be informed. They are all the same a third (32%) to declare that they rather gave them the feeling of having lost the desire to be informed. At issue: information considered too anxiety-provoking (74%), repeated journalism (73%) and a lack of confidence in journalists (49%).
A small majority of French people (54%) believe that the quality of information provided by journalists has also deteriorated in recent years. They are 74% to regret that the information is sometimes false and relayed too quickly. The bias of journalists is also singled out by 70% of respondents. Faced with this observation, 63% of French people say that better verified information could encourage them to become more informed.
Less than one in two French people say they are informed about politics
In general, the French are in demand for accurate and quality information, especially since 89% of those polled note more and more rumors and false information on the Internet and on the networks. Six out of ten French people therefore expect journalists to check false information, rumors and misinformation. Slightly less than half of respondents (47%) are looking for practical and useful information on a daily basis.
Despite the rise in distrust, 95% of French people still get information at least once a week, regardless of the information channel. They are even 69% to do it every day. Among the subjects on which the French get the most information, we find social issues (60%), health (59%), news items (53%) and the economy (52%). They are 48% of those polled to declare that they are regularly informed about the climate emergency, a subject which is of great interest to French people aged 60 and over (56%), those aged 50-59 (52%) and 47% young people aged 18-24. Finally, despite the presidential and legislative elections of 2022, less than one in two French people (47%) regularly get information about political life.
* This study was carried out by Viavoice for the Assises internationales du journalisme de Tours, of which Radio France is a partner with France Télévisions, France Médias Monde and West France. The interviews were conducted online from March 9 to 13, 2023 with a sample of 1,001 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over, using the quota method applied to the criteria of sex, age, profession, regions and categories of agglomeration.