site.btaBCCI Poll: Third of Businesses Believe Media Help Economic Development

Sofia, October 16 (BTA) - A poll by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), released on Monday, suggests that as few as one in three businesses believe that the media help Bulgaria's economic development. Some 26 per cent of respondents think the media don't help economic development, while and 8 per cent believe the media outright hamper economic development.

The BCCI poll was carried out among 6,000 business representatives between October 9 and 13.

Half of businesses don't believe that their proposals will get across to the incumbent through the media. The remaining 50 per cent think that the media can help them in getting their ideas across.

The poll shows that generally businesses rarely seek out the media for resolving issues, with 83 per cent having never addressed the media. Fourteen per cent have sought the help of the media, but they refused to cooperate. Only 3 per cent report that they have resolved an issue through the intervention of the media. An overwhelming 86 per cent don't trust a single media. Asked which is the most trustworthy source 25 per cent choose TV, followed by Internet/social media (18 per cent), print media (8 per cent), radio (6 per cent). The remaining 43 per cent believe that none is trustworthy enough.

As little as twenty-seven per cent of respondents say that the media help present Bulgaria in a positive light. On the other hand, 88 per cent of businesses say that the media focus predominantly on negative news. Forty per cent of businesses say that the media play an important role in fighting the informal economy and corruption.

Nearly 60 per cent of businesses think that media cover news one-sidedly and 35 per cent say that they deliberately pass over news.

Businesses criticize the media for not going into enough detail and being analytical enough.