Internet, TV top news sources for Filipinos: survey

According to the PAHAYAG First Quarter Survey 2024 conducted from March 14 to 18, 65 percent of Filipinos browse the Internet as their main source of news, a trend that persists across regions and socio-demographics. (Pexels Photo)

MANILA – The Internet is the leading source of political news and current events for Filipinos, based on a Publicus Asia Inc. survey released on Monday.

According to the PAHAYAG First Quarter Survey 2024 conducted from March 14 to 18, 65 percent of Filipinos browse the Internet as their main source of news, a trend that persists across regions and socio-demographics.

The survey found that 61 percent of Filipino adults access Facebook to get their news, while around 65 percent still consume news through television.

In terms of daily news consumption, the pollster noted that social media surpassed television, with 52 percent accessing news through social media daily.

The poll also showed a widespread decline in trust across all news providers, indicating a general loss of confidence.

GMA7 leads as the most trusted news outlet with a 47 percent trust rating this quarter, down 7 points from 54 percent in the previous quarter.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer follows closely at 42 percent, while Manila Bulletin holds third place with a 41 percent trust rating.

ABS-CBN (Online) and the Philippine Star received trust ratings of 40 percent and 39 percent respectively.

Publicus Asia also reported significant drops in the trust ratings for TV5/Interaksyon from 42 percent in the previous quarter to 38 percent this quarter, Bombo Radyo from 39 percent to 33 percent, while DZBB, DZRH and Manila Times all saw a decline from 39 percent to 32 percent.

It further highlighted that following the controversy surrounding Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, SMNI, the broadcasting arm of Kingdom of Jesus Christ, had its lowest trust rating in nine quarters at 19 percent, which was most likely influenced as well by the revocation of its franchise by the House of Representatives.

The independent and non-commissioned survey was conducted among 1,500 respondents.