Trust in news and market fragmentation: the Spanish case

Abstract

The Internet has led to the emergence of new channels of information forming alternatives to traditional media brands, which have changed consumer habits and generated an unprecedented information supply. In this new scenario, some questions have arisen about the relationship between trust and the media. Based on focus groups and a survey of 2,104 people at Spain, this research shows there is a relationship between the degree of perceived trust and the preferences of information consumption. In particular, those who get information from traditional channels show greater trust than those who do through alternative channels such as social media or digital-native media (especially young people). This paper also concludes that the perceived value of traditional journalistic brands with respect to digital-native media is modest in terms of

trust, although people still prefer the legacy media when informing themselves about complex and important issues.

KEYWORDS: journalism, trust, traditional media brands, digital-native media, social media, audience.