Institutional Trust and Media Use in Times of Cultural Backlash: A Cross-National Study in Nine European Countries

The paper contributes to the study of institutional trust by making a connection “cultural backlash” theory and analyzing more recent forms news consumption. We examine how in politics, media, science is shaped media use nine European countries. employ representative survey data collected 2021 Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom as part large research project. results suggest that both exogenous (or “cultural”) endogenous “institutional”) dimensions cultural backlash matter for explaining trust. Trust benefits from progressive–liberal values less ideological extremism, but hindered discontentment with societal developments political disengagement. Using public television positively, social negatively associated While we find distinctions across institutions, there huge consistency