In the spiral of mistrust: On the decline of public trust in Czech journalists

Authors

  • Jaromír Volek Masaryk University
  • Marína Urbániková Masaryk University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19195/1899-5101.10.2(19).1

Keywords:

Czech journalists, mistrusting audiences, political orientation, trust

Abstract

This paper analyses the change of public trust in journalists in the Czech Republic and investigates the main characteristics of mistrusting audiences. Comparative analysis based on two representative surveys of the Czech population reveals that public trust in journalists declined by a third between 2004 and 2016. Mistrust is on the rise especially among: a socio-economically de­prived media consumers b with leftist political orientation c belonging to the youngest cohort. The analysis also indicates a split of the ideal-typical image of a journalist as a highly-educated advocate of socially vulnerable groups, and suggests the return of a perception of journalists as establishment representatives which prevailed during the previous “real socialist” regime.

Author Biographies

Jaromír Volek, Masaryk University

Jaromír Volek, Ph.D., is professor at Masaryk University, Czech Republic. His research interests focus on post-communist journalism, media audiences, critical theories of media, and content analysis of media representations of the European Union. His publications include the books and over a few dozen articles and book chapters about transformations of Czech journalists and their public trust in the post- transformation phase, about the mechanisms of the media audiences fragmentation and media literacy. Since 2013 he has been a member of the international project DIMLE (Digital International Media Literacy eBook Project). He cooperates with RRTV — the Czech media regulatory board as one of the experts in content analysis and media representation of local and general elections.

Marína Urbániková, Masaryk University

Marína Urbániková, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Department of Media Studies and Journalism, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. She has been recently involved in a research project entitled “Czech Journalists in a Comparative Perspective: an Analysis of the Process of Professionalization, Professional Socialization, and Journalistic Career” funded by the Czech Science Foundation (GACR). Her research interests include journalism education, journalism students, journalists and their professionalization, media systems, and research methods.

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Published

2017-12-27

How to Cite

Volek, J., & Urbániková, M. . (2017). In the spiral of mistrust: On the decline of public trust in Czech journalists . Central European Journal of Communication, 10(2(19), 159-179. https://doi.org/10.19195/1899-5101.10.2(19).1

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2(19) (2017): Fall 2017

Section

Scientific Papers

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