The social networking sites are the main source of information for the young people. 70% of the youth daily use social networking sites, while 84% of them use a smartphone to access them. On average, the young people use the Internet for six hours a day, shows a study to assess the media skills and media literacy level among young people in the Republic of Moldova, which was carried out by the Center for Education and Community Development (CECD), IPN reports.
CECD researcher Mariana Yatsko, one of the authors of the study, said that 84% of the young people agreed with the assertion that it is important for the young people to be able to identify news items aimed at manipulating and misinforming society. Also, over 60% of those surveyed said that the Education for Media discipline that is taught at lyceums can protect them from such phenomena as media manipulation, propaganda and disinformation.
Almost 60% of the young people said that they are mostly informed about what is happening in the Republic of Moldova, 20% are very informed, 19% are informed to a smaller extent, while 1.5% are not at all informed about what is going on in the Republic of Moldova.
48% of the respondents said they follow the newscasts of independent media outlets and other sources. 27% follow the news bulletins of independent sources only, while 17% said they follow the newscasts, but are not sure that the sources are independent.
45% of the young people are rather satisfied with the media in Moldova. 34% of those polled are rather dissatisfied, almost 5% are very dissatisfied, while 6% are very satisfied with the mass media in Moldova.
Over 46% of those surveyed consider the news items in Moldova are considerably influenced by political factors, 35% consider these are influenced very much, 4% – are influenced insignificantly, while 0.8% of the young people believe the news articles in Moldova are not at all influenced by political factors.
More than 46% of the respondents said they can easily determine when the media outlets intend to manipulate or to change the citizens’ opinions, 36% – not very easily, 6% – with difficulty, while about 5% - somehow with difficulty.
At the same time, 42% of those polled believe the young people in the Republic of Moldova can make a difference between fake news and real news somehow with difficulty. 30% said these can make a difference somehow easily, 11% - very easily, while 11% - with great difficulty.
The study to assess the media skills and media literacy level among young people in the Republic of Moldova covered a sample of over 1,500 people. 64% of them were aged between 16 and 20, while 24% were aged between 21 and 25. About 56% of those polled are from cities.
Note: IPN News Agency gives the right of reply to persons who consider they were touched by the news items produced based on statements of the organizers of the given news conference, including by facilitating the organization of another news conference in similar conditions.
