Trust and Distrust in Public Service Media : A Case Study from the Czech Republic

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14230%2F23%3A00134214" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14230/23:00134214 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/7053" target="_blank" >https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/7053</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i4.7053" target="_blank" >10.17645/mac.v11i4.7053</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Trust and Distrust in Public Service Media : A Case Study from the Czech Republic

Original language description

Although public service media is a trusted island in the media landscape of many countries, trust in public service media is not absolute and universal. This study adopts a qualitative approach to explore what trust and distrust entail for the public, a perspective rarely applied in trust research. Also, it explores the extent to which the sources of trust and distrust are the same and whether the concepts of trust and distrust are identical (only inverse), or linked but separate. It focuses on the Czech Republic, where the level of trust in the news is among the lowest in the world, yet public service media is the most trusted news source (Newman et al., 2022). Based on four focus group discussions with the general public (N = 24), this study analyzes the reasons for the audience’s trust and distrust in Czech public service media. There are three main categories: trust in the message (i.e., people trust public service media if, in their view, it provides objective, truthful, reliable, relevant, and fast information without sensationalism and anti-system views); trust in the source (i.e., people trust public service media if they perceive the public service media journalists as professional); and trust in the public service media organizations (i.e., people trust public service media if they perceive the regulatory framework as effective in ensuring independence from politics and oversight boards as a guarantee for quality). As the reasons leading to trust were not identical (only inverse) to the reasons leading to distrust, our findings suggest that trust and distrust in public service media are not two sides of the same coin.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

50800 - Media and communications

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA22-30563S" target="_blank" >GA22-30563S: Rethinking the Role of Czech Public Service Media: Expectations, Challenges, and Opportunities</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Media and Communication

ISSN

2183-2439

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

11

Issue of the periodical within the volume

4

Country of publishing house

PT - PORTUGAL

Number of pages

11

Pages from-to

297-307

UT code for WoS article

001161267300004

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85178878088