Understanding news media trust through the lens of phenomenological sociology

Abstract In journalism studies and political communication research it is generally agreed that news media trust concerns a psychological state related to audiences’ willingness to be vulnerable to news media. Nonetheless, a number of theoretical considerations for refining conceptual understandings of news media trust remain to be addressed. These include: (1) what news media trust consists of; (2) the situational character of news media trust; and (3) how different levels of analysis are related to each other. The article explores how phenomenological sociology offers a theoretical framework to address these issues. Besides refining conceptual understandings of news media trust, the article outlines how the framework advances empirical research, with a specific focus on two research strands: (1) non-normative analysis of mechanisms of power underlying news media trust, which contributes to de-Westernize news media trust research; and (2) investigations focused on the trust journalists place in the audiences to perform journalism.