ZAGREB, 14 May (Hina) – As many as 48% of Croatian citizens occasionally or frequently deliberately avoid news, while 8% do not follow news at all, according to a study by the Electronic Media Agency (AEM) presented on Thursday at a conference titled “Democracy in the Age of TikTok and News Avoidance”.
AEM director Josip Popovac said stronger media and legislative regulation was needed amid the growing spread of both news and disinformation on social media, alongside a declining role for traditional media and rising news avoidance.
„We must make platforms ensure that a certain part of content is part of our shared reality,” he said, adding that this would support social cohesion and the protection of democratic values.
Deputy director Robert Tomljenović said algorithms increasingly shape how people receive information, fragmenting the public sphere into thousands of personalised realities while more citizens actively avoid news.
State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture and Media Krešimir Partl said the conference is part of a project funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, including the creation of a fact-checker network and public disclosure of media funding.
The findings show nearly 60% of respondents rarely or never actively seek out news. They were presented by professors Ivan Burić and Marijana Grbeša.
Burić said anxiety, emotional reactions to negative news, perceptions of unprofessional journalism and general public disengagement were the main reasons for deliberate news avoidance in Croatia.
The study also found that 40% of respondents avoid political news, while one in four avoid ideological or worldview-related topics.
Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) and Millennials (1981-1996) were identified as most prone to news avoidance, with younger respondents suggesting that more positive news content could increase engagement.
Trust in journalists averaged 2.62 out of 5, compared with 3.73 for scientists and 2.33 for PR professionals.
Speakers said perceived sensationalism and trivial content strongly contribute to news avoidance in Croatia.
The study was prompted in part by findings from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, which has consistently ranked Croatia among the highest globally for news avoidance. It was conducted in April on a sample of 1,014 adults.
The conference also examined how algorithms and social media are reshaping public information flows, with speakers warning of increasing fragmentation of shared reality.
Political sociology professor Paolo Gerbaudo from Madrid said algorithmic changes are driving greater fragmentation of the public sphere, while professor Ruth Palmer discussed the democratic risks of news avoidance.
The event was organised by AEM under the NRRPВ measure on establishing a fact-checking system, co-funded by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility.
