Media Dependency in a Multiple Crisis: Information Seeking and Media Trust After an Earthquake During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The paper examines the relationship between trust in media and information seeking from the media dependency theory perspective. Its purpose is to explore different goals in media use during crisis, and the role of trust and perception of misinformation. Research was done in Croatia in spring 2020, when citizens were experiencing a crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and an earthquake hitting the capital city of Zagreb. It is based on an online survey on a convenience sample (N = 741). Three media use goals were discovered: social understanding, self-understanding, and the play&communication goal. Education, age, and gender were proven to be important in predicting media use during a crisis. Media trust is correlated to social understanding goals and traditional media use, while the perception of being vulnerable to misinformation is correlated to withdrawal from media use.