Explaining levels of media trust across countries through macro-level factors

Le résumé fourni par la source

A growing body of empirical studies have demonstrated the relevance of macro-level factors to the formation, maintenance, and decline of public trust in the media. Research consistently shows that a considerable amount of variation in media trust can be attributed to country characteristics. These contextual factors, which are typically studied at the systemic level of analysis, are primarily rooted in political and media structures, economic environments, legal frameworks, as well as in cultural heritage. Each of these domains can be further divided using the analytical features of structure and performance, which may directly or indirectly impact media content and/or the criteria by which the audience judges this content. The aim of this chapter is to review existing research on contextual explanations of media trust and suggest a systematic account of its societal antecedents. We provide an overview of the disciplinary origins of this body of research, the main concepts and underlying theoretical ideas, the methodological approaches, and the key findings on the relationship between systemic contexts and media trust. Furthermore, the chapter will critically interrogate conceptual assumptions, methodological choices, and empirical interpretations with the aim to pinpoint potential future avenues of research in this area.

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