REPORT

Public Service Media: Bridging Values and Trust

Minna Horowitz & Alessandro D’Arma | EBU
2023

Trust is at the core of journalism and the media profession and has been one of the main concerns of recent academic research in media and communication. Public service media have been challenged in the last few years by the rapid rise of new technologies such as social media platforms. With disregard to values such as accountability and accuracy, these platforms and their constant flow of information, has led to a wave of distrust in the news and media institutions. Rather than looking at the erosion of trust induced by surveillance capitalism, this research focuses on the reasons why public service media have generally remained trusted institutions. Built around core values of public service media such as universality, independence, excellence, diversity, accountability and innovation, this study offers new perspectives on the relationship that links trust and public service media.