European Journal of Communication

There seems to be dwindling trust in media and public authorities in highly developed, democratic societies, with a common fear that audiences are being manipulated. At the same time, people in these countries increasingly turn to alternative information sources, like social networks, blogs and other forms of online communication that they deem to be more authentic. This article discusses the role of trust in parallel to the development of society and media. On the basis of an evolutionary model of societal communication, the author develops a concept of network trust vis-a-vis institutionalized trust and personal trust. He argues that a widespread loss of trust in media and institutions might pose a danger to democratic societies – and that various forms of (participatory) network communication might not be an adequate solution to this problem.

Popular conspiracy theories, like those about JFK, the attacks of 9/11, the death of Princess Diana or the swine flu vaccination, are generally depicted in the social sciences as pathological, irrational and, essentially, anti-modern. In this contribution it is instead argued that conspiracy culture is a radical and generalized manifestation of distrust that is embedded in the cultural logic of modernity and, ultimately, produced by processes of modernization. In particular, epistemological doubts about the validity of scientific knowledge claims, ontological insecurity about rationalized social systems like the state, multinationals and the media; and a relentless ‘will to believe’ in a disenchanted world – already acknowledged by Adorno, Durkheim, Marx and Weber – nowadays motivate a massive turn to conspiracy culture in the West.

It is not that people disbelieve the news that they consume, but that its long-term impact upon their political confidence is corrosive. They come to believe that if the world is as they see and read about it, scope for making a positive difference is slim. In the context of three recent crises – financial, political and media – this article sets out an argument for thinking about trust and efficacy as closely related concepts.

The recent developments in political communication, in particular the process of popularization of politics and the diffusion of Internet, are notably challenging the relationship between citizens and media. In this rapidly evolving context it is worth analysing the role of political discussion in personal networks and small groups. Also, very recent research has offered new evidence to the old thesis that, despite the massive presence of mass media, personal discussion shapes the formation of the political opinion. A particularly important aspect concerns the nature of opinion leadership: who are the new opinion leaders able to influence processes of interpersonal communication? This article reassesses such a theoretical framework by reviewing the state-of-the-art and providing a foundation for a debate on the themes of trust in information sources and the impact of opinion leaders.

This article introduces the notion of I-pistemology to capture a contemporary cultural process in which people from all walks of life have come to suspect the knowledge coming from official institutions and experts, and have replaced it with the truth coming from their own individual experience and opinions. While, at present, such personal experiences are successfully mobilized by the new right in Europe, the author argues that I-pistemology is also the result of critical theory and movements that have identified ‘knowledge’ as an instrument of power that needs to be contested. In addition online and offline popular culture have raised personal experience to the level of the only relevant truth. In conclusion, the article discusses the repercussions of I-pistemology for policy and progressive politics.

This article explores the interplay of political enthusiasm as a form of fandom and the creation and disappearance of trust as a result of the evolving relationship between fans and their objects of fandom. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with supporters of Barack Obama and the UK Liberal Democrats, the article illustrates how the bond between fans and their political fan object is built in the highly polysemic environment of convergence media in which audiences actively construct textual boundaries. Based on projective and self-reflective readings, enthusiasts of given political causes, actors or parties thus build an affective attachment to their fan object which allows for the creation of trust in its perceived proximity. If such readings become unsustainable over time, this affective bond and its associated levels of trust are eroded.