On the intricate relationship between data and theory, and the potential gain afforded by capturing very low levels of media trust: Commentary on Mangold (2024)

In his paper ‘Improving media trust research through better measurement: An item response theory perspective', Frank Mangold (2024) adopts an item response theory approach to rethink and reconceptualise an existing measure of media trust, originally developed to distinguish perceptions of news media as (1) balanced, (2) fair, and (3) current. Applying an Item Response Theory approach, Mangold argues that the three factors do not capture different dimensions, but different ranges of media trust. In this commentary, we highlight the importance of capturing truly low levels of trust. We then turn to theoretical implications for trust research (e.g., discussing the theoretical relevance of the currency factor) and practical implications (e.g., discussing even more efficient measurement and quantifying the gain in measurement precision). We finally suggest some opportunities for future research that arise from Mangold's work.