Trust in local media and information they share during the Covid-19 pandemic: Belgrade example
Abstract: The analysis of the relevant literature, especially earlier empirical research of serious pandemics (not including the forces of nature and the processes they create), refers to the assumption that man is (directly or indirectly) guilty of them. Given that the media transmits information related to the intensity of the spread of the pandemic, the death rate of the sick, etc., a survey of citizens’ trust in the local media and the information they convey was conducted in order to find out how much the media contribute to the intensity of the spread of the negative effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. Four assumptions were defined as questions to which respondents’ answers were requested: frequency of information through different types of media; assessment of the extent to which different types of media offer the possibility of objective information; the existence of free, independent and impartial media in Serbia, and finding the truth in the media. The research is of a quantitative type, conducted on a sample of 600 respondents in the city of Belgrade. For the collection and processing of data used the desk method, using interviews and via electronic questionnaires, in which the questions in the first part related to the socio-demographic variables of the respondents, while in the second part the group of dependent variables was operationalized through the statements, which were evaluated on a Likert scale. More sub-questions are offered within the four main questions. Descriptive statistical analysis (percentages, arithmetic mean), T-test, One-factor analysis of variance, Standard deviation, Multiple regression analysis and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. The level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05, and all obtained data were processed in the SPSS program, version 23.