PMCb1118 Trust in media

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Lukáš Slavík (lecturer)
Mgr. Klára Smejkal, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Klára Smejkal, Ph.D.
Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Lenka Hrbková, Ph.D.
Timetable
Fri 10:00–11:40 U42
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
An extensive fragmentation and diversification of the current media environment and the growing selectivity of news audiences inevitably erode the informational monopoly of professional news media and challenges patterns of trust in media. As we face an obvious decrease in trust in traditional media (as well as in political institutions), the aim of the course is: to introduce students to the concept of trust, especially in media and communication studies, but necessarily beyond this field. Students will be introduced to the role of trust in society, especially in the functioning of the media world. However, since the history of this concept and phenomenon in media and communication studies is relatively recent, students will also be introduced to the process by which this concept has become established in media and communication studies, which involves defining trust in relation to related concepts and phenomena such as distrust, mistrust and scepticism, credibility, faith, etc. During the course, students will become familiar with the current state of research. Students will acquire knowledge in a practical way.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student will:
know issues, theories and concepts related to trust and distrust in media,
know recent state of research on trust in media,
present and discuss the issue of trust in media, recent research, applied methods and results
Syllabus
Content 1) Introductory class 2) Media, Democracy & Current Political Challenges 3) Where Trust Comes From: Basic Theories and Models of Trust 4) Credibility: Doors Closed for Trust in Media Studies 5) Reeding Week - No lecture 6) Traces of Trust in Media Studies: Research, Measurement, Conceptualization 7) Emerging Order in Organized Chaos of Media Studies: Trust, Distrust and Related Concepts 8) Personalization of media and news and trust 9) Innovative ways of handling trust in media 10) Trust in media and populism 11) The impact of trust and distrust in the media on society and democracy 12) Final presentations 13) Final presentations Teaching methods: seminar, class discussion, reading
Literature
  • Knobloch‐Westerwick, S., et al. (2015). Political online information searching in Germany and the United States: confirmation bias, source credibility, and attitude impacts. Journal of Communication, 65(3), 489-511.
  • McKnight, D. H., & Chervany, N. L. (2001). Trust and distrust definitions: One bite at a time. In Trust in Cyber-societies (pp. 27-54). Springer.
  • Tsfati, Y., Cappella, J. N. (2005). Why do people watch news they do not trust? The need for cognition as a moderator in the association between news media skepticism and exposure. Media Psychology, 7, 251–271.
  • Skovsgaard, M., Shehata A., & Strömbäck, J. (2016). Opportunity Structures for Selective Exposure. Investigating Selective Exposure and Learning in Swedish Election Campaigns Using Panel Survey Data. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 21(4), 52
  • Tsfati, Y., & Ariely, G. (2014). Individual and contextual correlates of trust in media across 44 countries. Communication Research, 41(6), 760-782.
  • Kohring, M., & Matthes, J. 2007. Trust in news media: Development and validation of a multidimensional scale. Communication research, 34(2), 231-252.
  • Macek, J., Macková, A., Pavlopoulos, V., Kalmus, V., Elavsky, C. M., & Šerek, J. (2018). Trust in alternative and professional media: The case of the youth news audiences in three European countries. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15(3), 3
  • Fletcher, R., Park, S. (2017). The Impact of Trust in the News Media on Online News Consumption and Participation. Digital Journalism 10 (5): 1281-1299.
Teaching methods
seminar, class discussion, reading
Assessment methods
During the semester, the student will prepare and present a country case study to describe the level of trust in the media in that country and what causes it. The student will be required to submit a academic argumentative essay on the phenomenon of trust.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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