Exploring the Audience of Alternative News Media : Trust, Reflexivity, and Political Attitudes in the Czech Republic

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Authors

MACKOVÁ Alena HRBKOVÁ Lenka MACEK Jakub

Year of publication 2023
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Mass Communication and Society
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Social Studies

Citation
Web https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15205436.2023.2268098
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2023.2268098
Keywords alternative news media; mainstream news media; audience; media trust; political antagonism
Description This study explores the audiences of Czech alternative news media (ANM) and seeks the predictors for its use. It examines the relationship between ANM usage and trust in mainstream media, media reflexivity, political interest, political attitudes that indicate the liberal-conservative divide, and political antagonism. Adopting an audience-centered approach, the study identifies ANM users through their self-identification based on perceived ANM news sources. Additionally, it verifies the robustness of this approach by considering a spectrum of alternative-to-mainstream news sources. The findings reveal that the reception of Czech ANM is associated with lower trust in professional mainstream media and higher political interest. Moreover, self-identification-based measures show links with internet usage and media reflexivity, while the second model found weak effects for one’s attitude to the European Union and political antagonism. The study discusses the differences between the approaches and the implications of both measurements.
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