BESLAN TRAGEDY: PEOPLE'S ATTITUDES

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN NORTH OSSETIA

The North Ossetian leadership change that took place in the beginning of this June divided the respondents into approximately two equal camps. 36 % think the changes in North Ossetia "will rather worsen" the situation, while 32 % think that it "will rather improve" it. 9 % assume this "will improve" the situation, while only 8 % expect it to get worse. A significant part of those interviewed (15%) could not answer this question.

MAIN SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Television

Television dominates (81%) as the source of daily news in North Ossetia. Most viewers in North Ossetia choose central Russian channels RTR and ORT (46 %). NTV comes in second with 27%, while VGRTK "Alaniya" is third with 15%. European "EuroNews" is very popular with 7% of the population watching it. 1% prefer REN-TV.

Press

Among the main sources of information, the press is in second place with 48%. The leaders are the republic-wide newspapers North Ossetia (12 %), Ossetia: an Independent Look (7 %), Pulse of Ossetia (6 %) and Vladikavkaz (1 %).
The most popular among all Russian newspapers are Kommersant and Moskovsky Komsomolets, with 5% each. They are closely followed by Argumenty i fakty (4 %) and Novaya Gazeta (3 %). 1% of respondents read the Vedomosti newspaper.

Radio

Radio is the third in the list of main sources of information with 35 %. The most popular radio station in the Republic is "Echo of Moscow", listed as a main source of information by 20 % of respondents. Other popular radio stations include the "VGRTK" radio (9 %) and the Russian desk of "Radio Liberty" (6 %).

Internet

Internet is the fourth, but nonetheless important, source of information with 34%. Among the most visited news sites were "news.yandex.ru" (16 %), "15th Region" (12 %), website of the Russian desk of "Radio Liberty" (4 %) and the website of the daily Kommersant (2 %).

LEVEL OF TRUST IN MEDIA

Television is the most trusted source of information (73%). The most trusted station is NTV (32%), followed by RTR and ORT (23%) and VGRTK "Alaniya" (6%). Euronews is trusted by 7 % of those who participated in the survey. It is worth mentioning that the same share of respondents trust "Euronews" in neighbouring Dagestan.
A rather large share of respondents (32%) trusts the internet: "News.yandex.ru" with 14% is the most popular among websites, followed by "15th Region" (11%), the Russian desk of "Radio Liberty" (2%) and the website of the daily Kommersant (1%).
36% of respondents have confidence in newspapers. Novaya Gazeta enjoys the trust of 14% respondents. A little less or 13% have confidence in a republic-wide Ossetia: an Independent Look, 9 % trust Pulse of Ossetia.
Respondents think that most trustworthy radio stations are "Echo of Moscow" (17 %), the Russian desk of "Radio Liberty" (6%) and VGRTK (3%).
For 7 % of those interviewed communication with friends and relatives serves as the main source of information.