Postnormal Trust: The Case of the Media

Abstract

This article is the first installment of a two-part paper aimed at assessing whether the theory of postnormal times provides an appropriate framework for examining the evolution of public trust in the media. Building upon previous studies that have explored the applicability of postnormal times theory in explaining changes in the new century, this paper specifically examines communication as a new case study, delving into factors that either foster or impede trust in the media. This paper argues that communication, both as a theoretical disclipine and as a human activity, exhibits characteristics of postnormality. It contends that not only does communication adhere to the tenets of postnormal times, but it also serves as one of the principal indicators of postnormality on a global scale, particularly concerning trust in the media. The article evaluates the suitability of postnormal times theory to study the recent evolution of communication. It then conducts a review of existing literature on trust in the media and proposes a roadmap for constructing prospective scenarios through the Three Tomorrows’ approach.

Keywords:

• Communication
• media
• postnormal times
• trust

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Doomsday clock updates can be followed here: https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/.

2 The latest count is available here https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/.

3 Data from Statista (2023) https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/.

4 Data from Ericsson https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/mobility-report/mobility-visualizer?f=1&ft=1&r=1&t=8&s=1&u=1&y=2016,2028&c=1.

5 More information about this event here: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-01-18/musk-tesla-trial.

6 Like when pastor Terry jones announced that he would burn Korans and caused turmoil in many Muslim countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove_World_Outreach_Center_Quran-burning_controversy.

7 You can find the whole story here https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/26/fake-news-story-prompts-pakistan-to-issue-nuclear-warning-to-israel.

8 One notable instance of this was in COP26 in 2021, see https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59251912.

9 There are many reasons for rejecting vaccines as this article shows: https://bigthink.com/health/anti-vaccination/.

10 For more information, see: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/kyrie-irving-says-the-earth-is-undeniably-flat-this-is-not-even-a-conspiracy-theory/and: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/kyrie-irving-flat-earth-theory-society-proof-science-teacher/r91hx3l5q9he1ip6wnj11l8rz.

11 The concept of the official future first used by Peter Schwartz (1991) in his book “The Art of the Long View” to describe those mainstream future images shaped by economic drivers and heavily reliant on technical fixes.

12 The Jetsons was an animated TV show by Hanna-Barbera. It was originally broadcast from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC. It depicted a middle-class family living in a futuristic place, Orbit city. One of the most loved characters was the robot “Rosie.”

13 Skynet is the evil AI that takes control of the Earth and wants to wipe out humanity in the “Terminator” franchise.