Most Spaniards recognize the fundamental role of the media in understanding current affairs, guiding decision-making and controlling political power. 75% rate the need to be informed about current affairs as “very important”, and the main reasons they give for this refer to the rational level: to “understand what is happening” (70%) and to “be able to make decisions”. (44%).
This is one of the main conclusions of a study by the BBVA Foundation on the consumption of information in Spain, which also highlights the fact that the conventional media continue to occupy a fundamental part of the information map: more than 80% turn to television , 75% follow current affairs through some type of newspaper (digital or printed) and 63% listen to the radio for information, while magazines have a very minor presence (18%).
Regarding the consumption of digital information, newspapers are the main source of consultation: 59% of those who obtain information through the Internet consult the websites of newspapers that have a printed edition, 53% consult exclusively digital newspapers and 50% Follow newspapers on social networks.
The study also concludes that the information offered by the press, television and radio generates trust for the majority of the population (more than half give it a score of 6 to 10 points on a scale of 0 to 10), while that offered by social networks, as well as by news aggregators and blogs, are below the trust threshold. Regarding conventional media, print newspapers obtain the highest level of trust, followed by radio and television.
The confidence levels provided by each medium do not necessarily respond to their level of use. Regardless of the incidence of the Internet in monitoring news, sites with exclusively digital content do not obtain the level of trust that most conventional media achieve, reveals the study
41% declare that they consult media that reflect a point of view close to theirs and 42% indicate that they combine them with others that offer different perspectives. Those who consult media related to their ideas the most are those who identify ideologically with the left or the right, while those who declare themselves to be in the center combine media offering different points of view.
Politics, in any case, is just one of the many issues -and not the main one- that interests citizens when it comes to finding out about current affairs. Regarding the objects of information that arouse the most attention, the BBVA Foundation study identifies a first group of topics, which the majority state they consult on a regular basis: social issues (83%), health (81%), education (79 %), local affairs (77%) and environment (74%).
