MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. Russia’s print media has seen a 20-percentage point decline over the last few years, but Russians are not ready to completely abandon newspapers and magazines just yet, according to a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center and published on Wednesday on the organization’s website.
"The consumption of print periodical publications (newspapers, magazines) has considerably dropped during the last few years. If in 2014, 77% regularly read them, then by 2017 that number came to just 55%," the report says. More than three-fourths of Russians (79%) continue to say that they are not ready to fully abandon print publications in favor of internet media.
According to the pollster, Russians more frequently opt for electronic media versions instead of print ones to read an interesting article. That is how 47% of respondents felt in 2017 (up from 29% in 2013). In 2013, 58% of those polled preferred print versions of newspapers and magazines, but that figure slipped to 46% in 2017.
"The consumption of news is gradually and stably moving over to digital media channels. Moreover, in contrast to the older generation that is not ready to completely abandon printed sources, younger audiences and urban residents more frequently tend to go to instant digital platforms to get news. Traditional magazines and newspapers on the internet are being less frequently used for consuming information, which is a noticeable trend. Our compatriots more frequently choose search engines, integrators and messengers to navigate the information flow," Director General of the Public Opinion Research Center Konstantin Abramov said, commenting on the survey results.
The household opinion survey by the state-run pollster was conducted on October 23-24, 2017, among a random national sample of 1,200 adults. The margin of sampling error does not exceed 3.5% with a 95% probability.