KAS’s country director Daniel Schmucking remarks on their public opinion poll on December 13. Heng Chivoan
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Cambodia released their survey research from 2022 indicating that 88 per cent of respondents use social media as their primary news source, an increase of nine per cent over 2020.
The report showed that internet news has seen a growth of 10 per cent since 2020, but at 17 per cent it remains below TV and social connections, both at 29 per cent.
KAS on December 13 also launched its second public opinion poll “What do Cambodians think?” – a survey of Cambodians’ attitudes toward society and politics.
The survey is a collaborative project with Spear Insights, conducted to undertake quantitative research to ascertain how the general public felt about society and politics.
The purpose of the survey is to understand the political and social views, priorities and expectations of the Cambodian people.
It contained questions concerning media use, civic participation, international relations, the environment and gender equality.
“The use of social media as a news source increases among lower age groups with 99 per cent of the youngest, 18-24-year-olds, using it as their source of information.
“However, the percentage of each age group using social media as their news source has grown, with even the 55-64 year-olds increasing from 55 to 66 per cent between 2020 and 2022.
“In general, it can be said that social media is used slightly more by males than females and TV more by females than males, perhaps a reflection of gender roles and women spending more time at home,” the research report said.
According to the report, social media was also more popular in Phnom Penh at 95 per cent and less popular in the Plateau and Mountains region at 79 per cent, likely owing to the problem of internet speeds and signal connectivity.
Both internet news and social media grow in popularity as education levels and incomes get higher and receiving news information from TV has an inverse correlation to social media and internet news across all demographics, it noted.
The survey find that social media and the internet remain the most frequently used media channels with 82 per cent and 83 per cent respectively checking them daily, while males reported checking social media daily more frequently than women at 82 per cent compared to 73 per cent.
However, TV-watching females reported watching daily more than males, at 52 per cent compared to 46 per cent.
The research also indicated that overall approximately one-third of respondents trust the media, one-third do not trust it and the final third did not know or refused to respond. Trust was slightly higher in females than males at 35 per cent compared to 32 per cent for men.
