Keywords: News, media, journalism and public opinion

This paper will investigate the relationship between perceptions of the media and dissatisfaction with democracy in four countries: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States. In light of the global rise of authoritarian populism, the question of whether media perceptions are related to democratic dissatisfaction is increasingly important to answer. While authoritarian candidates differ from country to country, one strategy they share in common is to attack the credibility and veracity of the media. For example, Donald Trump repeatedly accused the mainstream press of being “fake news” during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, and several parties in the German-speaking world have revived the 1930s-era opprobrium, “Lügenpresse.” Attacks on the media have also featured prominently in the rhetoric of the Brazilian would-be presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, in the strategy of presumptive candidate José Antonio Meade Kuribreña in Mexico, and in the Centro Democratico party in Colombia. Prior research has established three dimensions of (dis-)satisfaction with democracy: support for authoritarianism, political discontent, and political disaffection. Research on these interrelated concepts has found that they have important influences on social capital, political participation and regime preference in various countries around the world. However, research has not systematically investigated the antecedent role of media-based perceptions, including perceived media credibility, media trust, and perceived media bias. Yet, research on these media perceptions suggests that they are associated with a preference for alternative media and “corrective” political action. Thus, unfavorable perceptions of the media may also be associated with an underlying dissatisfaction with democratic performance. Based on this logic, the study hypothesizes that perceived media credibility and media trust will be negatively related to three indicators of dissatisfaction with democracy (support for authoritarianism, political discontent, and political disaffection), while perceived media bias will be positively related to these indicators. The study relies on representative surveys conducted in four countries between April and June of 2016 using online survey panels administered by Survey Sampling International (SSI). The samples were designed to reflect the population of adults (age 18+) in Brazil (N = 520), Colombia (N = 521), Mexico (N = 510) and the United States (N = 514). SSI uses a two-stage sampling process. First, subjects are randomly selected from each country’s online panel constructed along geographic and demographic parameters. Next, subjects are presented with profiling questions to create a final sample that is balanced regarding certain demographics: age, gender, and education. Preliminary results from ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis are supportive of the hypotheses, showing negative relationships between perceived media credibility and dissatisfaction with democracy, as well as media trust and dissatisfaction with democracy. Meanwhile, results show a positive relationship between perceived media bias and dissatisfaction with democracy. Results are discussed in light of ongoing scholarly and public conversations about the rise of authoritarian populism, threats to worldwide democracy, and democratization in Latin America.