Description
A CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interview) survey was conducted at the Laboratory of Media Studies between 3rd and 6th June 2024. Over the five days of the survey, the interviewer team managed to interview 1,221 respondents. The total working time of the interviewer team amounted to 192 hours 8 minutes and 59 seconds. The average interview time (successfully completed interview) amounted to 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
The survey was designed to help answer the question of how Poles perceive the opinions of the media they use on Poland's membership in the European Union. The context in which we conducted the survey was the 20th anniversary of Poland's accession to the EU.
All interviews conducted were complete, and respondents met the criteria established in the study (being of legal age and residing in Poland). Therefore, no records were excluded from the database at the calculation stage – the number 1221 is the basis for the percentages in the entire report. The survey consisted of a section concerning the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and the main section, divided into four thematic blocks.
The questions we asked in the survey concerned how, according to the respondents, the media they follow present the selected issues. When asked about the tasks of the EU, one in ten respondents answered “no opinion”. Around 20 per cent of the responses referred to criticism of the EU, pointing to terms such as “thievery”, “oppression”, “supporting the stronger”, “subjugating some countries to others”, “deprivation of national identity”, “dealing with itself (the EU about the EU)” or “promoting ideology”.
Among the most important tasks of the European Union, Poles – on the basis of the media they use – named above all economic cooperation, the free market and trade, the movement of goods and workers, and monetary policy (the euro currency), accounting for more than 18 per cent of responses. Defence, security, and maintaining peace in Europe ranked second (16 per cent). Environmental protection and combating climate disaster (including the Polish Green Deal) ranked third (13 per cent). In fourth place was the political community and community of values, encompassing the logic of unification and federalization (creating a superstate), further integration, and treating Brussels as a mediator within the EU.Among the most important tasks of the European Union, Poles – on the basis of the media they use – named above all economic cooperation, the free market and trade, the movement of goods and workers, and monetary policy (the euro currency), accounting for more than 18 per cent of responses. Defence, security, and maintaining peace in Europe ranked second (16 per cent). Environmental protection and combating climate disaster (including the Polish Green Deal) ranked third (13 per cent). In fourth place was the political community and community of values, encompassing the logic of unification and federalization (creating a superstate), further integration, and treating Brussels as a mediator within the EU.Among the most important tasks of the European Union, Poles – on the basis of the media they use – named above all economic cooperation, the free market and trade, the movement of goods and workers, and monetary policy (the euro currency), accounting for more than 18 per cent of responses. Defence, security, and maintaining peace in Europe ranked second (16 per cent). Environmental protection and combating climate disaster (including the Polish Green Deal) ranked third (13 per cent). In fourth place was the political community and community of values, encompassing the logic of unification and federalization (creating a superstate), further integration, and treating Brussels as a mediator within the EU.Among the most important tasks of the European Union, Poles – on the basis of the media they use – named above all economic cooperation, the free market and trade, the movement of goods and workers, and monetary policy (the euro currency), accounting for more than 18 per cent of responses. Defence, security, and maintaining peace in Europe ranked second (16 per cent). Environmental protection and combating climate disaster (including the Polish Green Deal) ranked third (13 per cent). In fourth place was the political community and community of values, encompassing the logic of unification and federalization (creating a superstate), further integration, and treating Brussels as a mediator within the EU.
The lower the education level, the greater the difficulty in identifying the tasks the European Union fulfils according to the media used by the respondent. When asked to name Poland's ally in the European Union according to the media they consume, respondents were divided. 40 per cent indicated that Germany was the most important ally according to their sources. However, almost as many respondents (36 per cent) answered that no country is Poland’s ally. This was followed by France (8 per cent), Hungary (5 per cent), and Italy, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Belgium, which each received 2 per cent of responses. Only 1 per cent of respondents named Spain and Slovakia.
60 per cent of respondents believed that the media they followed supported Ukraine joining the European Union. Only 6 per cent of respondents noticed that the media they follow answered “strongly disagree” or “rather disagree.” 26 per cent of respondents chose the answer “no opinion.”
Respondents to the survey also indicated which media they use most often. Among traditional communication media, television is the dominant one, while among new media, respondents most frequently mentioned online portals. These were followed by specific channels on YouTube. Onet.pl and Wp.pl were mentioned most often among portals, with Interia.pl coming third by a wide margin. Gazeta.pl and Oko.press were also mentioned. The most frequently named social media platforms were Facebook, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok. In the radio category, RMF FM was the most frequently mentioned, followed by TOK FM, Polish Radio First and Second Programmes, and Antyradio. In the press category, Gazeta Wyborcza dominated, followed by the weeklies Polityka, Newsweek, Angora, and Rzeczpospolita. Among social media accounts, Kanal Zero stood out.
The vast majority of respondents (88 per cent) provided answers by naming specific media outlets. Two other groups of respondents indicated a specific type of medium without specifying a media brand (6 per cent) or mentioned specific programs and independent channels on social media (5 per cent). In the classification by media type, television was clearly dominant (47 per cent of responses), followed by online portals (18 per cent) and specific social media applications and platforms (14 per cent), primarily Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Other traditional media played a supplementary role compared to television and online sources. Radio was cited as a primary source of information by 10 per cent of respondents, while the press was mentioned by 7 per cent. Interestingly, a noticeable share of respondents (just over 2 per cent) indicated personalized social media accounts linked to specific organizations or individuals as their information source.
