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Abstract
A significant part of the general public’s observations and image concerning the police comes through the mass media. It has been assumed that one factor affecting the level of trust is the way the media handles the police. This article describes the media uproar that arose in Finland in November 2013 about police misconduct, and its effects on the public trust in the police. Two hypotheses were tested in the study: (a) negative publicity always decreases trust, and so, too, in this case; and (b) a change in trust is affected by the public’s independent interpretation of the publicity battle, in which case criticism might also increase trust. The study materials comprise the news coverage concerning the uproar and four opinion surveys collected after it occurred. The first survey was conducted immediately after the press conference of the case in week 48/2013 and the other ones in three-week intervals. The results show that following the uproar, compared to the earlier results of the European Social Survey, trust in the police did not decrease—on the contrary, it increased slightly. Our results suggest that in this case a large part of the audience has taken, to use the term of Stuart Hall, the oppositional position when interpreting negative news about the police.
Notes
1. The original ESS question is the following: ‘Using this card, please tell me on a score of 0–10 how much you personally trusteach of the institutions I read out. 0 means you do not trust them at all, and 10 means you have complete trust. Firstly … the (country) government? ... … the legal system? … the police? … politicians? … the European Parliament? … the United Nations?’ (ESS ESS: European Social Survey Round 1-6 Data, Citation2002–2012).