The saying that you should not believe everything you see on television appears to have been adopted by most Greek households, as three-quarters of the people questioned in a survey published yesterday said they thought that private stations served their owners’ interests rather than benefiting viewers.

The poll was carried out in the wake of a string of allegations about politicians having been aired during television programs and found that 71 percent of respondents thought the main aim of news and current affairs programs was to boost ratings. Only 13 percent felt their main aim was to be objective and informative, according to the VPRC survey published in Sunday’s Eleftherotypia newspaper.

Just over half of those questioned said they though there was a substantial difference between the reality of events and how they were reported on television. A fifth said the same of radio and over a third mistrusted newspapers.

As for the prevailing characteristic that those polled felt suited television reporters, 52 percent said it was “exaggeration” and 15 percent chose “arrogance.”