The Role of Media Consumption in Building Trust in the Romanian Mass Media
The Role of Media Consumption in Building Trust in the Romanian Mass Media

Summary/Abstract: In the past decades, concerns have been raised regarding the ways in which mass media influenced the public confidence in democracy. The roots of media trust in the new democracies from Central and Eastern Europe are poorly understood, even though a significant body of research in western democracies proves that media trust is dependent on distinct media-system, political, and cultural aspects relevant to the country particularities. This paper examines whether levels of trust in various traditional (television, radio, written press) and alternative (Internet and online social networks) media are different along social lines and depend on media consumption patterns in post-communist Romania. The study is based on statistical analyses of public opinion surveys. According to the findings, there is a high correlation between mass media trust and media consumption.

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