INTRODUCTION: Re-thinking media trust in digital media environments and during democratic erosion

Trust in mainstream news media has long been considered a cornerstone of democratic societies, yet its meaning, scope, and implications have become increasingly contested in contemporary media environments. This chapter re-thinks the relevance of news media trust against the backdrop of profound transformations in both media and political environments. Digital high-choice media environments have blurred the boundaries between journalism, non-journalistic sources, and algorithmic intermediaries, including generative AI, complicating what audiences mean when they refer to “news” and “the media.” At the same time, political polarization, economic pressures on journalism, and strategic efforts by political actors to delegitimize mainstream media have intensified debates over journalistic authority and democratic accountability. The chapter explores how news media trust depends on journalistic performance, audience expectations, and political context. Distinguishing between healthy skepticism, constructive criticism, and deliberate delegitimization, the chapter highlights how trust can both sustain and undermine democratic resilience. The chapter sets the theoretical foundation for the volume and outlines its contribution to advancing research on news media trust in fragmented digital public spheres.