Bad News, Declining Trust? Effects of Exposure to Economic News on Trust in the European Union

Open Access
Authors
Publication date 2020
Journal International Journal of Public Opinion Research
Volume | Issue number 32 | 2
Pages (from-to) 223-242
Organisations
  • Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) - Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR)
Abstract
Evaluations of the economy are often assumed to be at the heart of citizens’ support for political systems. Despite being a vital source of information, we know little about how economic news coverage influences political support. The present study investigates how exposure to economic news coverage impacts trust in the European Union (EU), using a combination of automated content analysis data and nine-wave panel survey data between 2007 and 2016. We find that respondents exposed to more EU economic news lose confidence in the economy and trust in the EU. Yet, while exposure to negative EU economic news negatively affects economic confidence, it has a positive effect on trust in the EU. The opposite is the case for positive coverage.
Document type Article
Note With supplementary file.
Language English
Published at https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edz025
Downloads
edz025 (Final published version)
Supplementary materials
Permalink to this page
Back