IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v10y2022i3p146-157.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Media Use and Societal Perceptions: The Dual Role of Media Trust

Author

Listed:
  • Adam Shehata

    (Department of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

  • Jesper Strömbäck

    (Department of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

Abstract

How citizens’ perceptions of societal problems are shaped by media use has been a critical question in media effects research for decades. This study addresses a specific puzzle concerning media effects in contemporary fragmented media environments: the dual role of media trust as both (a) an antecedent variable guiding news selection and (b) a moderator variable conditioning the effects of news use on perceptions of societal problems. Building upon the differential susceptibility to media effects model, we analyze the role of media trust for citizens’ orientation towards mainstream and alternative news media—and how such usage influences perceptions of two major societal issues: health care and school. Findings from a four-wave panel survey conducted in Sweden suggest that public service and alternative news use matter for citizens’ perceptions of societal problems and that media trust influences news choices and may, partly, condition media effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Adam Shehata & Jesper Strömbäck, 2022. "Media Use and Societal Perceptions: The Dual Role of Media Trust," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 146-157.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v10:y:2022:i:3:p:146-157
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.v10i3.5449
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/5449
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/mac.v10i3.5449?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christopher Ambrey & Christopher Fleming & Matthew Manning, 2014. "Perception or Reality, What Matters Most When it Comes to Crime in Your Neighbourhood?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 877-896, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ida Kubiszewski & Kenneth Mulder & Diane Jarvis & Robert Costanza, 2022. "Toward better measurement of sustainable development and wellbeing: A small number of SDG indicators reliably predict life satisfaction," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 139-148, February.
    2. Erica Ann Felker-Kantor & Colette Cunningham-Myrie & Lisa-Gaye Greene & Parris Lyew-Ayee & Uki Atkinson & Wendel Abel & Pernell Clarke & Simon G Anderson & Katherine P Theall, 2019. "Neighborhood crime, disorder and substance use in the Caribbean context: Jamaica National Drug Use Prevalence Survey 2016," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(11), pages 1-15, November.
    3. Ehwi, Richmond Juvenile & Mawuli, Divine Asafo, 2021. "‘Landguardism’ in Ghana: Examining public perceptions about the driving factors," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    4. Kubiszewski, Ida & Jarvis, Diane & Zakariyya, Nabeeh, 2019. "Spatial variations in contributors to life satisfaction: An Australian case study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Phil Lignier & Diane Jarvis & Daniel Grainger & Taha Chaiechi, 2024. "Spatial Heterogeneity and Subjective Wellbeing: Exploring the Role of Social Capital in Metropolitan Areas Using Multilevel Modelling," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 1-23, June.
    6. Matthew Shannon, 2021. "The Impact of Victimisation on Subjective Well-Being," Working Papers 202123, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    7. Helfgott, Jacqueline B. & Parkin, William S. & Fisher, Christopher & Diaz, Adrian, 2020. "Misdemeanor arrests and community perceptions of fear of crime in Seattle," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Tetsuya Tsurumi & Shunsuke Managi, 2017. "Monetary Valuations of Life Conditions in a Consistent Framework: The Life Satisfaction Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 1275-1303, October.
    9. Adam Shehata & Jesper Strömbäck, 2022. "Media Use and Societal Perceptions: The Dual Role of Media Trust," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 146-157.
    10. Erin Grinshteyn & Reid Whaley & Marie-Claude Couture, 2020. "Minority Report: Prevalence of Fear of Violent and Property Crimes Among a Diverse College Sample," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 695-710, July.
    11. David W. Johnston & Michael A. Shields & Agne Suziedelyte, 2018. "Victimisation, Well†being and Compensation: Using Panel Data to Estimate the Costs of Violent Crime," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(611), pages 1545-1569, June.
    12. Kubiszewski, Ida & Zakariyya, Nabeeh & Costanza, Robert, 2018. "Objective and Subjective Indicators of Life Satisfaction in Australia: How Well Do People Perceive What Supports a Good Life?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 361-372.
    13. Arun Sondhi & Alessandro Leidi & Emily Gilbert, 2021. "A Small Area Estimation Method for Investigating the Relationship between Public Perception of Drug Problems with Neighborhood Prognostics: Trends in London between 2012 and 2019," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-12, August.
    14. Matthew Manning & Christopher M. Fleming & Hien-Thuc Pham & Gabriel T. W. Wong, 2022. "What Matters More, Perceived or Real Crime?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 1221-1248, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v10:y:2022:i:3:p:146-157. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.