TRADITIONAL VS DIGITAL MEDIA USE AND TRUST IN EU COUNTRIES

The debate on whether the new media will make the old ones disappear is as old as the new media are. Contemporary media are product of the convergence between content and information, communication technologies and computer networks. The appearance of new media is considered as a threat but also as an opportunity for the old ones. Digital media grow in terms of use but still don’t manage to gain trust. On EU level, traditional media tend to be trusted and new media tend not to be trusted. Mostly used remain TV and radio in their traditional forms, followed by the Internet and social networks. Written press faces the most considerable drop but is still more used than TV via Internet and podcasts. The objectives of this paper are to (1) study the interregional differences in traditional and new media use and trust in EU countries and (2) look for cultural explanation of those differences. The research is based on secondary data (Eurobarometer 96.3 ZA7848. 2022 and older) and fundamental works in intercultural analysis ((Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010), (Minkov, et al., 2017), (Schwartz, 2008)). The data analysis consists of descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, analysis of significance of differences and mapping. The results show greater interregional differences in media trust and smaller in media use. Both trust in traditional and distrust in new media are higher in richer indulgent Northern countries and lower in distrustful Mediterranean and restraint Central Eastern European countries. The findings contribute to the understanding on how traditional and new media coexist in EU countries and whether culture may affect it.