THE Northern Marianas Humanities Council has released the results of its local news media survey.
“In the months leading up to the CNMI’s 2020 mid-term election and amidst restrictions set upon us by the coronavirus pandemic, the Northern Marianas Humanities Council launched a survey to examine media literacy, media use and perceptions, and civic attitudes among CNMI residents. I am pleased to announce the completion of this comprehensive research study — the first of its kind for the CNMI — with the release of our i Minagåhet – Ellet: Reporting the Truth in the Northern Mariana Islands report,” said Executive Director Leo Pangelinan.
This study, he added, provides a snapshot of opinions, perspectives, and attitudes within the CNMI community as they relate to the trustworthiness of local and social media news sources, the journalistic functions of media, news media skepticism, online privacy, political interest and participation, and more.
“The overarching goal of this work is to promote awareness of the functions of the media in our democracy,” he said.
The present document constitutes a report on the outcomes of the 2020 survey, which was administered online, and included those living in Saipan, Rota, and Tinian, 18 years of age and older.
A total of 481 respondents completed the survey.
This report is intended to provide immediate feedback to the CNMI community, and is not a definitive and exhaustive analysis of the survey’s results.
It provides summaries of descriptive statistics, such as means and standard deviations, for the items measured on the survey, and a brief analysis of the correlations between key variables. Details regarding the survey’s method are also included in this report.
Those surveyed said they frequently used Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube as sources for local news.
Roughly 84% of the respondents reported that they would like local media to carry more regional news.
Sixty to 70% those surveyed believed that local media and journalists should cover the government and government meetings, crime and law enforcement, and what’s going on in CNMI schools.
Only 25% of the respondents believed that “news media are fair.”
More than 90% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the internet could cause privacy risks.
On average, respondents also tended to agree that internet companies and the government should take measures or create regulations that would help prevent the spread of false or inaccurate news information, and that consumers should be taught to recognize misinformation.
Nearly 58% of those surveyed say they never comment on other’s social media posts about politicians, political candidates, or the current election.
The survey results indicate that level of education and household income were positively associated with actual and self-perceived news media literacy.
Being more educated and having a higher household income were related to being less disaffected toward local politics.
The Humanities Council acknowledged the leadership and support of Dr. Francis Dalisay, project scholar and associate professor of journalism at the University of Guam, for his role in developing a 90-item community survey and an analysis of the results to anchor this work.
The council also extended its sincere gratitude to its project advisory group members: Kevin Bautista, Florence Calvo, Elsiana Cruz, Maria Dizon, Anita Hofschneider, Thomas Manglona II, Catherine Perry, Arden Sablan, and Dr. Jessica Taylor for lending their expertise, time and effort to the many facets of this project.
This project was funded by the Federation of State Humanities Councils through a grant provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
View the complete survey results at https://www.nmhcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/Minagahet-Ellet-Media-Report.pdf
