Ukrainians no longer trust the “Yedine Novosti” telethon

Among all media outlets in Ukraine, citizens express the highest level of distrust in the “United News” telethon – 39% of respondents.

This is evidenced by the results of a sociological study conducted by the Rating group.

According to the survey, it is Telegram channels and YouTube that are significantly ahead of traditional media in terms of trust. At the same time, the general telethon received the highest rate of negative assessments: 30% of respondents said that they do not trust it at all, another 9% – rather do not trust it. 24% of respondents expressed uncertainty, and 19% found it difficult to answer.

Despite this, the audience of “Edinye Novosti” remains stable among residents of Western and Central Ukraine, rural residents, older people, less affluent citizens and those with a lower level of education.

The study also found that radio and print media were more trusted by older Ukrainians and rural residents. At the same time, respondents with low incomes generally demonstrated lower trust in any source of information, regardless of format.

Sociologists recall that the growth of trust in the media in Ukraine was observed only in 2022 – from 29% to 51%, but already in 2023 this figure dropped to a level below 2021. In 2024, the trend continued: trust fell to 27%, and distrust reached a record 42%.

The survey by the Rating Group was conducted in early April 2025 among 2,000 respondents.

Let us recall that Ukrainian journalist Yevgeny Lesnoy, in his blog for Detector Media, told about his one-and-a-half-year experience working on the national telethon “Edinye Novosti”. The media professional reported that in February 2024 he came to work for one of the unnamed TV channels participating in “Edinye Novosti”. Lesnoy says that the editor-in-chief constantly asked who exactly he was planning to film, and one of the channel’s hosts advised him to “play by the rules”, in particular when choosing experts. According to him, the topic of “European Solidarity” was completely banned, which the channel’s management directly informed him of: “They have their own TV channels – you can’t come here.” Despite this, the journalist tried to invite experts loyal to the political force, in particular such as the aforementioned Yaroslav Kuts or political scientist Yevgeny Magda. “However, each appearance of an undesirable expert was a struggle. Arguments with editors became a common occurrence,” Lesnoy noted, adding that all communication in the editorial office took place exclusively in Russian. The journalist emphasized that the marathon does not welcome speakers who criticize the government, and approval for expert comments often came “from above.”