What media sources did people use & trust before voting in 2024 General Election?
Analysis: Here's what a new study found about the media Irish voters used and trusted when getting information ahead of last year's election
By Robert Brennan and Rabhya Mehrotra, DCU
In November 2024, the people of Ireland went to the polls to cast their ballots in the General Election. But what media sources did people use to inform themselves before voting? How much trust do they place in these different sources? The recently published National Election and Democracy Study sheds some light on these questions, and more.
Media vs social media vs WhatsApp
Most people rely on RTÉ at least occasionally to form opinions before voting, followed closely by social media (such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram) and direct information from political parties and candidates via leaflets and websites etc. Notably, social media had the most frequent response of 'Often'.
Newspapers are also used regularly (including online versions and those accessed through social media), though a fifth of people said they never use them to form opinions. Messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, Snapchat) are the least used, with over half of those surveyed reporting never using them.
Does media use and trust differ by age?
Breaking down these trends by age group reveals some noteworthy differences, 41% of Gen Z (ages 18 to 24) never use RTÉ for information before voting, but nearly three-quarters of those aged 65 or older never use social media, contrasting with only 12% of Gen Z.
However, usage does not mean trust. When asked how much they trust each of these sources, an intriguing trend emerges. Overall, journalistic sources such as RTÉ and newspapers are trusted far more than non-journalistic sources like social media and messages. Trust in journalistic sources remained high across all age groups with little variation, while trust in social media peaks among Gen Z but declines steadily with age.
What institutions do people trust?
It is also possible to look at trust in institutions more generally. It is relatively high but varies with the An Coimisiún Toghcháin/the Electoral Commission being the most trusted and political parties the least. Interestingly the Citizens' Assembly is highly trusted. Importantly, using and/or trusting journalistic media is correlated with higher trust institutions more broadly.
Despite younger voters leaning towards using non-journalistic sources, a key takeaway here is that traditional journalistic media retains high trust across all age groups when it comes to forming an opinion before voting. It is also related to higher trust in the state institutions more broadly.
Dr Robert A. Brennan is a postdoctoral researcher with the Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (FuJo) at DCU. Rabhya Mehrotra is a Mitchell Scholar who is doing a Masters in Political Communication at DCU. She is a part of the COMDEL (FuJo).
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