The Changing Dynamics of News Media Consumption and Political Distrust: A Longitudinal Analysis

• In Event: News Consumption and its Effects on Knowledge, Interest, and Trust

Abstract

While there is plenty of research investigating the linkages between news media use and political distrust, virtually all of these studies focus on the impact of media use on political distrust at a particular point in time. At the same time, the transition from low-choice to high-choice media environments suggest that the relationship might not be stable across time. Whatever the linkages between news media use and political distrust were in the 1980s, 1990s or 2000s, it cannot a priori be assumed that those linkages are the same or of equal strength today. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the changing relationship between news media use and political trust across time. Among other things, the results show that there is a positive linkage between news media use and political trust, but also that this relationship weakens across time.

Authors

• Jesper Stromback, Mid Sweden U

• Monika Djerf-Pierre, U of Gothenburg

• Adam Shehata, University of Gothenburg