%0 Journal Article
%T Untrustworthy News and the Media as ¡°Enemy of the People?¡± How a Populist Worldview Shapes Recipients¡¯ Attitudes toward the Media
%A Nayla Fawzi
%J The International Journal of Press/Politics
%@ 1940-1620
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1940161218811981
%X A common feature among populist parties and movements is their negative perspective on the media¡¯s role in society. This paper analyzes whether citizens with a populist worldview also hold negative attitudes toward the media. From a theoretical point of view, the paper shows that both the anti-elite, anti-outgroup and people centrism dimension of populism contradicts the normative expectations toward the media. For instance, the assumption of a homogeneous people and the exclusion of a societal outgroup is incompatible with a pluralistic media coverage. The results of a representative survey in Germany predominantly confirmed a relation between a populist worldview and negative media attitudes. However, the three populism dimensions influenced the evaluations not in a consistent way. A systematic relation could only be found for antielite populism, which is negatively associated with all analyzed media evaluations such as media trust or satisfaction with the media¡¯s performance. This indicates that in a populist worldview, the media are perceived as part of a detached elite that neglects the citizens¡¯ interests. However, the results confirm the assumption of a natural ally between populism and tabloid or commercial media. Individuals with people centrist and anti-outgroup attitudes have higher trust in these media outlets
%K media bias
%K political attitudes
%K political perceptions
%K Western Europe
%K populist worldview
%K media trust
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1940161218811981