Public Trust and Regulatory Governance as represented through the Media

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Caulfield, Timothy
  • Bubela, Tania
  • Fernando, Kanchana

• Media coverage of politics often comments on the decline of the public’s trust in government institutions. There is a notion that public trust of government is steadily decreasing. Many factors contribute to this reduced trust, including: unhappiness with government performance, negativity of election campaigns, distrust of traditional political parties, scandalous behavior of government officials (unethical, incompetent or corrupt conduct) and the changing role of the media. The media is said to be “more interpretive in its reporting and critical of politicians and government” and thus, politicians and government are subject to criticism on a daily basis. The use of “the eight-second spot, the quotable quote, the sound bite and live television in the House of Commons” has assisted in turning politics into a public spectacle. The framing of political coverage in these negative tones stimulates public cynicism which leads to distrust in government.

• Date created

  2014-11-12

• Subjects / Keywords

  • --

• Type of Item

  Research Material

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3G58Z

• License

  © 2006 Health Law Institute, University of Alberta. This version of this article is open access and can be downloaded and shared. The original authors and source must be cited.