Abstract

Many people are very concerned about the current situation and struggle with keeping informed about the fast changing regulations to maintain the pandemic in Sweden. At the same time, public agencies have identified misinformation and disinformation as a major problem during the Corona crisis. Adopting and adapting to major changes in everyday life is closely linked to the ways in which people are informed about necessary changes and to what extent they trust the source of information.

Handling a crisis situation such as the corona pandemic is hence also a major effort in trustworthy communication especially in a media saturated society. In that context it is of utmost importance for public agencies to know which sources people trust and distrust and how media trust evolves in different phases of the crisis. This project will gather empirical material to document the changing trust in the media during the Corona crisis. The project will gather unique material that will allow for diverse studies that will improve our understanding of media trust during a severe crisis situation and, hence, allows us to further develop communication strategies by public agencies. It will also capture the voices of concerned citizens during this unique situation.