An ICM Poll demonstrated that an average of 54 percent of residents in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Greece place little to no trust in how their respective mainstream media cover the Ukrainian conflict.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Yulia Shamporova, Anastasia Levchenko — A steady decline in the independence and objectivity of Western mass media demonstrated by their coverage of the Ukrainian conflict forces Europeans to look for other sources of more balanced news, experts told Sputnik.

An ICM Poll commissioned by Sputnik demonstrated that an average of 54 percent of residents in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Greece place little to no trust in how their respective mainstream media cover the Ukrainian conflict.

French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS) researcher, Jean-Yves Camus, believes the figures are unsurprising.

"We have less and less independent magazines and independent TV channels. That is why more and more people are leaning toward the idea that it is in the Internet where we can find the most reliable information," Camus told Sputnik.

The researcher believes anonymous sources quoted by Western outlets in reports on the Ukrainian conflict bear "no responsibility for this information's reliability" and notes a growing lack of confidence among the public in mainstream media.

"It is not a surprise that public opinion is to look for other angles in the coverage of this conflict that are much more balanced," the political scientist said.

In the ICM poll, Greeks showed the least faith in their domestic mainstream media, with a total of 76 percent saying they were fairly or totally distrustful of reports on Ukraine.

Aristides Hatzis, University of Athens Philosophy of Law professor, notes that the recent Greek debt crisis has exacerbated anti-EU sentiment, including its stance on the Ukraine crisis, among the public.

"The fact that during the crisis a lot of Greeks are hostile to the EU has led to more hostile attitudes towards EU and EU policies in Ukraine and elsewhere," Hatzis said.

Out of 4,000 EU citizens polled by ICM, only 4 percent considered mainstream media reporting on the conflict in southeastern Ukraine to be absolutely trustworthy.

The international public opinion research project Sputnik.Polls was launched in 2014, in conjunction with leading British public opinion survey specialists ICM Research. It conducts regular opinion polls to monitor public sentiment toward social, political and cultural issues in Europe and the United States.