Influence of news interest, payment of digital news, and primary news sources in media trust. A moderated mediation model

Abstract

This study investigated the mediating effect of the primary type of news source used by audiences on the relationship between inter-est in news and media trust. In addition, this study explored the moderating role of payments for digital news. Based on 12,252 respondents from six countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Spain, Germany, and Finland), the study confirms that the type of news source chosen by audiences significantly mediates the relationship between interest and media trust. This mediation is not moderated by the payments for digital news. Furthermore, there is no direct association between payment and media trust, although data shows that direct effect of interest in media trust is slightly moderated by payment for digital news