7.5.2003 Bulletins and Reports 2/2003

Opinions of Finns on the war in Iraq - a survey carried out on 22 to 24 April 2003

Over two thirds of the Finns do not approve of the attack on Iraq led by the United States. Taloustutkimus Oy conducted the survey on behalf of the Advisory Board of Defence Information between 22 and 24 April 2003. At the time major battles were already over. The picture of the war in Iraq given by the media is thought to be more reliable than before: 45 % of the Finns now think that the picture is reliable compared to the 36 % a month earlier. 59 % think that reporting on the war is objective whereas 23 % think that reporting has taken the United States' side. The Finns have followed closely news covering the war in Iraq. Television has been the most actively followed medium.

A large majority of the Finns still do not approve of the attack on Iraq

According to the survey, 69 % of Finns still do not approve of the attack on Iraq led by the United States. More women (78 %) than men (60 %) are against the attack. A month earlier 76 % did not approve of the attack. Almost one fifth of the Finns, 18 %, approve of the attack: 28 % of men and 8 % of women. A month earlier, 14 % were for the attack: 6 % of women and 20 % of men.

The support of the voters of the Coalition Party to the war has risen from 25 % to 36 %. The support of the voters of the Centre Party has risen from 14 % to 25 %. The support of the voters of the Greens is now at 9 % compared to the situation a month ago when nobody approved of the war. Of the voters of the Social Democrats about the same number is for the war, 13 %, compared to the 15 % a month ago.

The media are thought to be more reliable than before

45 % think that the picture of the war in Iraq given by the media is reliable, which is 9 % higher than a month ago. 44 % find the picture given by the media unreliable, compared to the 51 % a month earlier.

Among men, 49 % think that the media are reliable; the figure has risen by 10 %. Among women, 42 % find the media reliable; the figure has risen by 5 %. The retired and those between 50 and 74 years of age find the picture of the war given by the media more often unreliable than reliable. Among these groups, also uncertainty is higher than among other age and professional groups ('do not know', 22 % and 15 %).

The voters of the Leftist Union and the Greens think that the reliability of the picture of the war has decreased: 47 % of the voters of the Greens and 33 % of those of the Leftist Union find the picture reliable, compared to 52 % and 45 % of their respective figures a month ago. The voters of the other parties referred to in the survey find the picture more reliable than before. Now 51 % of the voters of the Coalition Party find it reliable, compared to 37 % a month ago; 46 % of the voters of the Social Democratic Party find it reliable, compared to 33 % a month ago; and the voters of the Centre Party find the picture more reliable than a month ago, 48 % and 39 % respectively.

Television is the most actively followed medium

Only 2 % of the Finns say that they have not followed the coverage on the war in the media. Almost 90 % have followed the reporting on MTV3 or YLE TV. Also newspaper coverage was actively followed: 73 % read war news in national newspapers and 65 % in provincial newspapers. As to YLE's radio channels, 60 % listened to programmes on the war in Iraq. Slightly over 50 % followed the coverage on TV4 and in afternoon papers whereas close to 50 % followed the reporting on local radio stations.

Differences in the objectiveness of the various media

Over one half (59 %) finds that on the whole the reporting on the war in Iraq has been objective in the media. Almost one fourth (23 %) thinks that on the whole the Finnish media have taken the United States' side whereas 5 % thinks that the media have taken Iraq's side.

The programmes on YLE's TV and radio were thought to be the most objective media; two thirds (66 % and 65 % find them objective. 62 % of the readers of national newspapers find coverage on the war objective whereas the figure for the readers of provincial newspapers is 55 %. The coverage on war on MTV3 is found objective by 57 %. Close to one half, 49 %, of the viewers of TV4 find the coverage objective whereas the figure is 39 % for the afternoon papers.

39 % of the readers of afternoon papers think that the coverage on the war takes the United States' side. As to national newspapers, the figure is 23 %; for MTV3 it is 26 %, and for TV4 it is 24 %. Those who read provincial newspapers and follow YLE's television programmes, 18 % think that they take the United States' side. Of those who listen to YLE's radio channels, 13 % are of this opinion. No broadcasting or journalistic medium was thought to take Iraq's side

Differing views between supporters of different parties

When the way the war was covered in the different media is analysed according to support to the parties, the coverage in YLE's radio and television is found the most objective one. The supporters of the Leftist union were more often of the opinion that YLE TV took the United States' side (24%) whereas the supporters of the Coalition Party thought that both YLE TV and radio took Iraq's side (8 % and 9 %).

Views differ about MTV3: 48 % of the voters of the Leftist Union think that it had an objective coverage on the war whereas 37 % think that it took the United States' side. Among the voters of the Centre Party the figures are 54 % and 29 % respectively. MTV3 is found objective by 66 % of the voters of the Social Democrats, by 67 % of the voters of the Coalition Party, and by 62 % of the Greens. Eight per cent of the voters of the Coalition Party think that the coverage on MTV3 took Iraq's side.

The Greens and the group 'other parties' found the coverage on TV4 the most objective one (68 % and 65 % respectively); the voters of the Centre Party, the Leftist Union and the Social Democrats had the most doubts about its objective coverage (41 %, 49 % and 51 % respectively).

At least 50 % of all voters of the parties mentioned in the survey think that the coverage on war in the afternoon papers took the United States' side whereas the majority of the voters of 'other parties' found them objective. The voters of all parties estimated that local radio stations were generally less objective (40 to 55 %). The voters of the Coalition Party and the Greens were more often of the opinion that both afternoon papers and local radio stations took Iraq's side. Definite conclusions should not be drawn about the percentage shares as to TV4, afternoon papers and local radio stations, which have been less frequently followed.

For more information on the survey, please contact Mr Jorma Hentilä, Chairman of the Survey Branch of the Advisory Board of Defence Information, tel. + 358 9 654217 or + 358 40 587 4894, and Ms Heli Santala, Secretary General, tel. +358 9 160 88162 or + 358 50 554 9590.

The Advisory Board of Defence Information had the second Iraq-related survey made between 22 and 24 April 2003. Conducted as part of the Telebus survey, Taloustutkimus Oy implemented it as a computer-assisted telephone interview (CA TI). A total of 1004 persons were interviewed. The sample was weighed to represent a target group on the basis of age, gender and place of residence. The error margin of the survey is 2.5 % to both directions. The political view of the interviewed was assessed by inquiring "Whom did you vote in the previous general elections". 62 % of the interviewed specified their political views. Reliability is not as good for small parties as for large ones when distribution is made on the basis of party political support. Two of the questions asked in this survey were the same as in the survey conducted between 25 and 26 March 2003.