In this episode of Media & Society, we explore what shapes public trust — and distrust — in media across Latvia and Estonia. How do political culture, economic insecurity, generational shifts, and digital platforms influence what people believe?

Our guests, Professor Sergejs Kruks from Rīga Stradiņš University and Professor Triin Vihalemm from the University of Tartu, reflect on why trust in institutional media continues to decline, how socio-economic and ethnic differences affect media use, and why many vulnerable groups remain unheard.

The podcast series is hosted by Līga Ozoliņa, a PhD student at Rīga Stradiņš University and a researcher at the Social Sciences Research Centre.

Theme song: Jeremy Blake, Science Montage, Youtube audio library

The podcast series is recorded at Rīga Stradiņš University’s multimedia studio and is produced as part of the Scientist Grant 'Making Sense of Media: A Non-Media-Centric and Open-Ended Approach to the Study of Media-Related Experiences and Perceptions' (No. RSU-ZG-2024/1-0007), which is carried out under the project 'RSU Internal and RSU with LASE External Consolidation' (No. 5.2.1.1.i.0/2/24/I/CFLA/005). The project is funded by the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility and the state budget of the Republic of Latvia. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.