Establishing Trust in Experts During a Crisis: Expert Trustworthiness and Media Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Existing research on factors informing public perceptions of expert trustworthiness was largely conducted during stable periods and in long-established Western liberal democracies. This article asks whether the same apply a major health crisis relatively new Drawing 120 interviews diaries first wave COVID-19 pandemic Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, we identify two additional not acknowledged existing research, namely personal contact with experts experts’ independence from political elites. We also examine how different interact show distrust can lead to exposure online misinformation.