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Television is the medium that has increased trust the most, according to the survey carried out by the SOM Institute, which measures the trust of Swedes in the media and institutions.
– Public service is at the top, then we have a middle group with TV4 and the local daily press and a little further down is Aftonbladet, says Ulrika Andersson, associate professor at the University of Gothenburg and deputy director of the SOM Institute.
SVT has the highest level of trust in a medium, with 81 percent declaring high or fairly high trust in content. Swedish radio is 74 percent, which is roughly the same as the outlet had before the pandemic. Confidence, especially, has clearly increased for people in their 30s for SVT, while confidence in TV4 has increased across all ages to an average of 57 percent.
Decreased confidence in newspapers.
All the media that originate from the printed word, such as DN and Aftonbladet, have a decline in trust and especially among women.
– Despite low confidence, you’re still there. It may have to do with the story that’s left, like the fact that you experience Aftonbladet as more sensational, says Ulrika Andersson.
The local morning newspaper has also seen a decline in confidence. The statistics of the local daily press have not increased or decreased, but have ended up in a more intermediate position. This is probably due to the fact that the national focus has been changed, says Ulrika Andersson.
– Then it may be that the moving image increases the confidence that this is where the press conferences have been broadcast, that it has given some security to see a certain person, Anders Tegnell, in the box. It’s probably important for safety, she says.
I need to have something to meet
SVT increases the confidence of those who are slightly or clearly to the left, but also among those who are located on the right. TV4 is clearly on the rise among those who are sympathetic to the Swedish Democrats, so much that they surround the Left Party. According to Ulrika Andersson, the minimum level of trust in the media has been higher during the crown spring than before.
– The reason people have rallied around public service and especially SVT is that we tend to lean towards traditional media in times of crisis.
Just as the government and the Riksdag have increased her confidence, she believes that we need something to bring us together. According to her, this may be because we have come together around issues that have been dominated by health care and not other issues such as crime.
– When the new poll arrives, we will probably see similar figures to what we had before when the political agenda is a little more normal.
The survey was conducted during April-June 2020, when the pandemic was so far the most intense. A random sample of 6,000 people was asked and almost half responded.
