Political scientist explains the phenomenon: why bloggers in Ukraine are trusted more than the government
13 September 07:58
OPINION
The only telethon is losing credibility, and bloggers are becoming the media – this is the trend in Ukraine’s information space, political scientist Oleksiy Yakubin outlines in an interview with "Komersant Ukrainian". He also questions the accuracy of opinion polls during the war.
“Single Marathon” as a symbol of distrust.
According to Yakubin, the decline in trust in state channels and official sources is due to the lack of information pluralism in the country.
“Why do people trust bloggers more than the government today? It’s because, I think, few people believe in a single marathon. It’s one thing to believe in pluralistic change when there are many different sources, and another when there is only one marathon,” says the political scientist.
He draws parallels with Soviet times, when people read official newspapers not to find out the truth, but to understand what was being kept silent.
“Since Soviet times, people have had an instinct to read Pravda to understand what is not there. It seems to me that we are in a similar situation,” Yakubin adds.
Bloggers are the new “media”
The political scientist explains the popularity of bloggers not only by the lack of trust in the state media, but also by the change in the format of information perception.
“Bloggers are gradually turning into mass media. This is a natural process when the audience is looking for alternative sources,” notes Yakubin, who is himself the host of a popular YouTube channel.
According to Yakubin, the problem with state communication is not unique to Ukraine. It requires revision of approaches at the systemic level.
“We need to change the information policy. By the way, when I was in Seoul, we organized roundtables where we talked about this very issue – “Freedom of Media” and expert approaches. This is an important topic not only for Ukraine,” the political scientist emphasizes.
Sociology of war: can we trust polls?
Another important topic raised by the expert is the reliability of sociological research in wartime. In his opinion, today any survey faces a number of challenges.
“I may be thrown with rotten apples or tomatoes, but according to academic sociologists I talk to, any sociological survey faces serious problems during the war,” Yakubin said.
Among the main challenges he names:
- The issue of respondents’ sincerity.
- The difficulty of forming a representative sample.
- Uncertainty about the demographic structure of the country.
“Who can say for sure what the structure of Ukrainian society is now? 6 million have left, 10 million have moved within the country. We don’t even know the exact ratio of men to women,” the expert concludes.
Yakubin’s words once again confirm that trust in official information is not only a matter of communication, but also a long-term systematic approach. In a time of war, when society is experiencing emotional and social exhaustion, information policy needs to be revised, and the role of independent bloggers and alternative platforms will only grow.
