Going Beyond General Media Trust

Author(s)
Hajo Boomgaarden, Yariv Tsfati, Jesper Strömbäck, Elina Lindgren, Alyt Damstra, Rens Vliegenthart
Abstract

A key problem with research on news media trust is that it has mostly focused on general media trust and that there is limited research on how media trust might vary across levels of analysis. In this paper, we seek to remedy this by investigating whether news media trust differs depending on the topic of news coverage and whether topical trust can be distinguished from general media trust. We also investigate the antecedents of trust in news coverage of different topics and the effects of topical trust on issue (mis)perceptions. Among other things, findings show that topical media trust can be distinguished from general media trust and is a better predictor of correct perceptions on political matters.

Organisation(s)
Department of Communication
External organisation(s)
Wageningen University and Research Centre, University of Haifa, University of Gothenburg, University of Amsterdam (UvA)
Journal
International Journal of Public Opinion Research
Volume
34
ISSN
0954-2892
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edac010
Publication date
08-2022
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
508009 Media research, 508007 Communication science, 508008 Media analysis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Sociology and Political Science
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/ad02df02-33df-4165-b1fc-206739129a5b