Influence of news interest, payment of digital news, and primary news sources in media trust. A moderated mediation model

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the mediating effect of the primary type of news source used by audiences on the relationship between interest in news and media trust. In addition, this study explored the moderating role of payments for digital news. Based on 12,252 respondents from six countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Spain, Germany, and Finland), the study confirms that the type of news source chosen by audiences significantly mediates the relationship between interest and media trust. This mediation is not moderated by the payments for digital news. Furthermore, there is no direct association between payment and media trust, although data shows that direct effect of interest in media trust is slightly moderated by payment for digital news.

KEYWORDS:

• Media trust
• paywall
• media exposure
• media sources
• news interest

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/16522354.2023.2214447.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government [RTI2018-101124-B-I00]; Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government and the European Regional Development Fund, ERDF (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, FEDER) [RTI2018-093346-B-C31].

Notes on contributors

Alfonso Vara-Miguel

Alfonso Vara-Miguel (PhD in Communication) is associated professor in the School of Communication of the University of Navarra (Spain) where he teaches Economics, Media Management and Financial Journalism. He is member of the Spanish research group Digital News Media Research Group, and coauthor of the Spanish edition of the Digital News Report, published annually by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism of Oxford University. He is also researcher at IBERIFIER – Iberian Digital Media Research and Fact-Checking Hub, funded by European Commission CEF-TC-2020-2 (European Digital Media Observatory), 2021-2024 (ref. 2020-EU-IA-0252).

Mercedes Medina

Mercedes Medina (PhD in Communication from the University of Navarra and Master in Arts in Communication from the University of Westminster) is Associate Professor at the School of Communication at the University of Navarra (Spain). She is the main researcher of the project “From the architecture of listening to the social footprint: good practices in content production” (2019-2022) funded by the Spanish Government and the coordinator of the Media Markets and Media Companies Research Group. Her teaching and research focuses on media economics, media companies and media audience research. Since 2016, she has been the editor of the journal Communication and Society (JCR Q2).

María Elena Gutiérrez-Rentería

María Elena Gutiérrez-Rentería earned a doctorate in public communication from the Universidad de Navarra and is a Professor in the School of Communication at the Universidad Panamericana in Guadalajara, México. Her bachelor’s degree is in business and finance and has a degree in anthropology and ethics. Dr. Gutiérrez Rentería participated as a visiting professor at the College of Media & Communication, at Texas Tech University in the United States. She was a member of the National System of Researchers in Mexico. Gutiérrez-Rentería currently serves on the editorial board of The International Journal on Media Management and is the author of the Mexican country profile published each year by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, at Oxford University.