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Conceptualizations and Operationalizations of News Media Trust across Time and Borders: A Systematic Literature Review (1951–2025)

Yongliang Liu et al.

Communication Research2026https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251393580article
ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Research on news media trust and the many related concepts has grown steadily in recent years. Yet, the field currently still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the extent to which the conceptualizations and operationalizations of these constructs are (mis)aligned. To address this gap, we systematically reviewed and content-analyzed 623 empirical publications on news media trust and related concepts from 1951 to 2025. We found a great diversity in operationalizations and conceptualizations of trust-related concepts, which could be partly explained by various contextual and methodological factors, such as the timing, region, and method of the research. By synthesizing previous definitions, we identified three distinct approaches to define these concepts, aiming to integrate the various perspectives on this topic. Our findings suggest that future research should aim for a more coherent operationalization of news media trust variables to ensure consistency and comparability across studies.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251393580

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@article{yongliang2026,
  title        = {{Conceptualizations and Operationalizations of News Media Trust across Time and Borders: A Systematic Literature Review (1951–2025)}},
  author       = {Yongliang Liu et al.},
  journal      = {Communication Research},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251393580},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.