Trust in public service media in the Baltic states

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the trust level in the public service media (PSM) of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia between 2010 and 2020. The research results show that in Estonia the audience’s trust in PSM is the highest and it has increased significantly among Russian speakers after the introduction of ETV+. In Lithuania, PSM can gain more trust even by reaching a smaller share of the audience than commercial media. The Latvian audience places greater trust in commercial media. In all Baltic countries PSM are better valued by the representatives of the ethnic majorities. Therefore, Estonia’s media policy efforts at creating the Russian PSM TV channel can serve as an example for the other Baltic states. We also argue that the differences in the positions of PSM might be explained by the different amount of resources allocated to the PSM for the fulfillment of their remits.