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

Abstract

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 (<em>N</em> = 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.

What the Public Wants: Audience Expectations for Public Service Media

“…Even though Czech PSM have been facing attacks from populist politicians for several years, they have managed to defend their independence (Štětka 2022), unlike in some other CEE countries (most prominently Hungary and Poland). Dissatisfaction with the performance of Czech PSM is evident not only among populist politicians but also among the segments of the public who harbor distrust in Czech PSM for various reasons (Urbániková & Smejkal, 2023). Previous research also shows that, for people who sympathize with populist parties, their level of trust is based on the extent to which they perceive PSM to reflect their worldview rather than on whether they think PSM meet normative standards (Smejkal et al, 2022).…”