Media and Trust. On the Need to Seek Information in Times of Uncertainty and its Social Consequences. Case Study of Poland during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused anxiety and uncertainty as to how to function “normally” to take over the place of routine. The greater reliance on social media, the encouraging of beliefs in conspiracy theories have all been linked with lower levels of preventative behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. The perpetual deluge of (true) information, misinformation and disinformation, whether man-made or bot-made, can be toxic, especially in combination with an unawareness of what news really is and how it affects us, both individually and collectively. Therefore, the current pandemic is partly a challenge to filter (in real time) the sheer quantity of information published on a daily basis but also the inability of researchers, policy makers, journalists, and ordinary citizens to keep up with quickly changing facts. I assume that in a situation of uncertainty people seek information in order to make the best decision. Accepted information is an expression of trust in their own sources of information, including trust in scientists and doctors or a lack of trust in government decisions, and a lack of trust in pharmaceutical companies. Political trust received attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher political trust led to higher compliance between behaviour and those government policies implemented to contain pandemics. The research’s intent is to illustrate which and how media sources of information constituted resistance to actions taken by state institutions and scientists in a situation of epidemiological emergency.