Media effects on political and social trust

Public opinion data from the last two decades document a crisis of confiden ce in America. Citizens are expressing lower levels of trust in government and in others. To what extent are variations in political and social trust a function of media use? Using data from the 1996 American National Electio n Study, we find that media use affects only social trust. Reading newspape rs and watching television entertainment content enhanced social trust, whi le watching television news undermined trust in others. We discuss the impl ications of these findings for the healthy functioning of democratic system s.