Between algorithms and editorial routines: trust in the UN and European public opinion

João Carlos Sousa

doi:10.1590/1983-3652.2026.61362

Authors

João Carlos Sousa Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia, Lisboa, Portugal / Instituto Politécnico de Santarém, Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém, Quinta do Galinheiro, Santarém, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7374-0152

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-3652.2026.61362

Keywords:

Trust, Public opinion, Media, UN, Misinformation

Abstract

This research analyzes the determinants of European public opinion trust in the UN in the context of war and informational disorder. It proposes a model that integrates three dimensions: informational, heuristic, and identity/polarizing, and an institutional indicator: perception of press freedom. The analysis is based on data from Eurobarometer 98.2 and uses PCA and binary logistic regression. The results indicate that trust in the media is the most robust predictor, confirming the importance of credibility heuristics. Radio and press usage have small but consistent effects, while digital media reveal an ambivalent and statistically null impact. Participation in online political debates is positively associated with trust, as well as with the perception of press freedom. The study highlights the link between public opinion, media, and institutional trust, offering guidelines for policies on informational integrity and media literacy.

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Author Biography

João Carlos Sousa, Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia, Lisboa, Portugal / Instituto Politécnico de Santarém, Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém, Quinta do Galinheiro, Santarém, Portugal

He has a PhD in Communication Sciences from Iscte-IUL with a thesis entitled “Socrates and the ‘others’: contributions to understanding the media effect on institutional trust” with an individual grant from FCT (SFRH/BD/136605/2018). He has a degree in Sociology (2009) and a Master's degree in Sociology: exclusions and social policies (2013) from the University of Beira Interior. He was a research fellow on the project (The Matrix of) Populist and Negationist Attitudes towards Science PTDC/CPO-CPO/4361/2021 at ICS-UL. Between February 2023 and January 2024, he was also a research fellow on the project “Track-IN - Public employment services tracking effectiveness in supporting rural NEETs” at ICS-UL. He was a research fellow (2010-2015) on the projects Citizen's Agenda: journalism and civic participation in the Portuguese media (PTDC/CCI-JOR/098732/2008) and Public and private in mobile communications (QREN), both developed at LabCom, Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Beira Interior. Between June 2016 and June 2017 he was a researcher at OberCom. In 2016-2017 he was a Science and Technology Management fellow at OberCom - Palácio Foz. That same year (November) he joined the project Medida Ligar-Eficiência Energética para todos (ADENE), developed at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon. He was born in the city of Covilhã on May 14, 1982.

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