New survey: Historically high confidence in SVT during the pandemic

TV is the media that has increased in trust the most according to the extra survey conducted by the SOM Institute, due to the pandemic.

- Public service is at the top, then we have an intermediate group with TV4 and local daily press and a little further down is Aftonbladet, says Ulrika Andersson, associate professor at the University of Gothenburg and deputy director at the SOM Institute.

SVT has the highest level of confidence so far with 81 percent and SR is 57 percent, which is about the same as the medium had before the pandemic.

Confidence has above all increased clearly for those people in their 30s for SVT, while for TV4 it has increased at all ages.

Decreased confidence in newspapers

All the media that originate in the printed word, such as DN and Aftonbladet have a decline in confidence and especially among women.

- Despite low confidence, you still turn there.

It may have to do with the history that remains, such as 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 for the local daily press have neither increased nor decreased, but have ended up in a more intermediate position.

This is probably due to the fact that the national focus has been shifted, says Ulrika Andersson.

- Then it may be that the moving image increases in confidence because that is where the press conferences have been broadcast, that it has given a certain security to see a certain person, Anders Tegnell, in the box.

It probably matters for security, she says.

Party political campfire

SVT increases in confidence for those who are slightly or clearly on the left but also among those who place themselves on the right.

TV4 is clearly increasing among those who sympathize with the Sweden Democrats, so much so that they go around the Left Party.

According to Ulrika Andersson, the minimum level of trust in the media has been higher during the corona spring than before.

- The reason why people have gathered around public service and above all SVT is that we tend to lean towards the traditional media in times of crisis.

Just as the government and the Riksdag have increased in confidence, she believes that we need something to gather around.

According to her, this may be because we have gathered around issues that have been dominated by healthcare and not other topics such as crime.

- When the new survey comes, we will probably see similar figures as we had before when the political agenda is a little more normal.

The survey was conducted in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic was so far the most intense.

6,000 people were asked and about half answered.