Centre for Civic Education (CCE) warns that the increasingly pronounced lack of public trust in the independence and professionalism of the media is encouraging citizens to turn to alternative sources of information, primarily social media, despite the fact that these are precisely the sources citizens trust the least when it comes to the accuracy and credibility of information. This paradox creates space for the spread of disinformation, manipulation and political influence, posing a serious challenge to democratic processes and the quality of public debate.
Two surveys conducted by the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AMU) in 2022, as a special research activity, and in 2025, pursuant to its legal obligation, confirm that television still enjoys the highest level of public trust, but also that doubts about the independence of the media system are growing. Trust in individual television programmes remains high, while the percentage of citizens who believe that the media are free from political influence has fallen below one quarter of the population. Meanwhile, disinformation has seen a sharp rise on social media – the channel most used by citizens, but also the one they trust the least. CCE assesses that this gap is becoming a lasting feature of the Montenegrin media landscape.
CCE’s 2025 survey further points to changes in information habits: internet portals are the most common source of daily information (28.8%), followed by friends and acquaintances (23.6%), radio and television (20.2%), and social media (20%), while print media are followed by only 5.7% of respondents.
It is also interesting that the surveys indicate that, alongside the majority of citizens who follow the news with a certain level of interest, almost one fifth continue to avoid it, mostly due to an excessive focus on politics, wars and crises, as well as the predominantly negative tone. This serves as a warning to editorial teams that the way content is presented affects audiences almost as much as the topics themselves.
At the same time, perceptions of media independence and objectivity are weakening further, with citizens continuing to distinguish between trust in certain media brands and trust in the media system as a whole, in which they have decreasing confidence when it comes to independence, professionalism and impartiality.
The AMU surveys also point to a growing awareness of disinformation, as citizens notice it more frequently and increasingly check information, mainly by comparing several sources. Almost half of citizens (48%) often wonder what is true and what is false, while only 15% trust media content without reservation.
Furthermore, according to CCE’s 2025 survey, 17.4% of respondents are willing to forgive their preferred media outlet for publishing falsehoods about people they dislike, while 29.4% would forgive such conduct if it was not done intentionally. Fewer than one fifth (18.2%) would not forgive such conduct under any circumstances
This highlights the paradox of contemporary information habits – citizens are increasingly turning to digital and informal sources, even though they often recognise these very sources as posing the greatest risk of inaccurate and manipulative content.
CCE assesses that these findings confirm that trust in the media is no longer merely a matter of the quality of journalistic work, but also of society’s resilience to disinformation and political manipulation. It is therefore necessary to strengthen professional standards, editorial independence and citizens’ media literacy in order to restore trust in credible sources of information, reduce the space for the spread of manipulative content, and encourage citizens to rely more on traditional media.
Željka Zvicer, Programme Associate