Digital Information Ecosystems

2 Can We Trust the Press?

It is only a tremor, but it is going in the right direction. The French are starting to believe in the media again. Despite the proliferation of fake news, and despite repeated violent attacks against journalists, including from journalists themselves but also regularly from politicians, several surveys show that the French have a certain attachment to traditional media.

2.1. The credibility of media and journalists

According to the 31st “media trust barometer”, published in 2018 and realized by Kantar/Sofres for La Croix, credibility is on the rise¹: the written press is in the top-ranking list and has improved its score by 8 points (to 52%), ahead of television, which is credited with +7 points (to 48%). Radio remains the most trusted media at 56% (+4 points). This trend comes just after a significant decline in confidence in traditional media in recent years (particularly in the previous survey, which was conducted just before the Fillon “affairs”). The vast majority (90%) of French people expect the media to provide “reliable and verified” information much more than solutions (only 6%) or the expression of partisan choices (2%). In short, the French are asking to be better informed, not influenced.

Another study corresponds to this barometer, regarding the renewed credibility of the media. According to a Viavoice² survey for the Assises internationales du journalism (International Journalism Forum) in March 2018, in partnership with the Journal ...