The survey of 1,000 Latvian residents, which can be read HERE, shows that while Latvians think their media offers exactly as diverse a range of opinions as the EU average (66% believing this to be the case), they feel media, and particularly public media, are subject to political influence.
Only 30% of Latvians believe the media is free of political or commercial pressure (EU average 38%), and an even smaller proportion, just 24%, believe public media, of which LSM is an example, are free from political pressure. The equivalent EU figure is 35%.
47% of those surveyed believe Latvian media provide trustworthy information, 46% believe they do not. (EU equivalent figures 53% and 44% respectively).
There was some disparity in the figures however, as when asked about specific media types, Latvians said they do in general think they are reliable - even more than the EU average, in fact.
70% said radio was reliable, 56% said newspapers were reliable and 66% said television was reliable (EU average figures 66%, 55%, 55%)
But perhaps most striking was the fact that very few people had any idea that there is a media regulator existing in Latvia.
Only 16% of people could name the National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP), 14% of people named an incorrect body and 67% were unaware there was a regulator at all.
