Journal article
An island of trust: public broadcasting in the United States
Journal of communication, jqaf009
30 Apr 2025
Abstract
This contribution aims to better understand the level of and reasons for the trust U.S. television viewers place in the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) amidst what is often perceived as a general decline in trust in U.S. media and public institutions. Based on a nationwide survey of 1533 self-declared PBS viewers and rooted in theories of the conceptualization of organizational trust, our findings suggest that PBS viewers trust PBS along three vectors: institution-based trust (value for public dollars); characteristics-based trust (news and children’s programming); and process-based trust (nostalgia). This trust, notably for news and political programming, is shared by viewers across the political spectrum. We argue this unique multi-faceted foundation of trust, media, and politics can be the basis for a rehabilitated sense of trust in U.S. public institutions and can also be marshaled to justify the political sustainability and, even, amplification of U.S. public media.
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Details
- Title
- An island of trust: public broadcasting in the United States
- Creators
- Christopher Ali (Corresponding Author) - Pennsylvania State UniversityHilde Van den Bulck - Drexel UniversityJonathan Kropko - University of Virginia
- Publication Details
- Journal of communication, jqaf009
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Number of pages
- 14
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Communication
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001478954700001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105023666065
- Other Identifier
- 991022052802704721
InCites Highlights
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Communication