Ali Diarassouba, head of news at Nouvelle Chaîne Ivoirienne (NCI), must be rubbing his hands with glee: the results of the survey initiated by the National Press Authority (ANP) with financial support from the Media Support and Development Agency (ASDM) in Côte d'Ivoire on the question of "How do Ivorians get their news?" " place NCI ahead of RTI1 among people aged 18 to 35.
In nearly five years of existence, under the leadership of Ali DIARASSOUBA, assisted by Evelyne DEBA, Melina MAKISSI, and Pierre AKPRO, NCI has succeeded in gaining real credibility in terms of information among young people and replacing RTI1 among young people as well as those with the highest levels of education.
Thus, for 28.9% of respondents aged 18 to 35, NCI is the channel they use primarily to stay informed, compared to 26.2% for RTI1.
NCI also outperforms RTI 1 in categories with higher levels of education (31% compared to 22.3% for RTI 1).
RTI1 nevertheless retains its leadership over other age and education groups.
These two channels are well ahead of Life TV, France 24, and RTI2, as shown in the table below.
It should be noted that the rolling news channel 7info, launched just three years ago, rivals RTI2 in terms of overall audience share and reaches 11.5% of people with higher education.
| Which channel do you mainly use to get your news? | |
| RTI 1 | 33.6 |
| NCI | 24.3 |
| Life TV | 10.2 |
| France 24 | 8.2 |
| RTI 2 | 7.3 |
| 7 Info | 7.0 |
| Canal | 2.6 |
| TV5 Monde | 0.6 |
| Afrique Média | 0.5 |
| Others (A+, etc.) | 5.5 |
| Total | 100.0 |
The survey also reveals that 75.7% of respondents get their news from television and 73.7% from the internet and digital print media. Radio is a source of news for only 26.9% of Ivorians, and print media for only 13.8%.
TV, the Internet, and digital media have opposite profiles: those under 35 favor the Internet and digital media, while those aged 36-50 prefer TV.
| TV | Internet and digital media | |
| 18-20 | 67.4 | 82.2 |
| 21-25 | 67.6 | 84.7 |
| 26-30 | 71.1 | 81.1 |
| 31-35 | 77.7 | 84.1 |
| 36-40 | 80.2 | 75.2 |
| 41-45 | 81.4 | 64.1 |
| 46-50 | 86.4 | 53.6 |
| ≥ 51 | 77.6 | 38.8 |
| Total | 75.7 | 73.7 |
This extremely rich survey also touches on the often sensitive subject of press freedom in French-speaking Africa: according to the ANP study, 65.6% of Ivorians who can read believe that press freedom is generally a reality in Côte d'Ivoire, with virtually no disparity based on age or level of education.
HOW DO IVORIANS GET THEIR NEWS IN 2023?
Survey conducted by SIVES for the National Press Authority between January 7 and 15, 2024, involving face-to-face interviews with 1,500 people over the age of 18 in Abobo, Cocody, Koumassi, Port-Bouët, Yopougon, Abengourou, Aboisso, Bouaké, Bouna, Daloa, Duékoué, Gagnoa, Korhogo, Man, and Odienné.