In democracies, one of Public Service Media’s (PSM) main roles is to inform the public. In a digital news ecosystem, where commercial, citizen, and alternative news sources have multiplied, questions about the ability and need for PSM to fulfil this role are increasingly being raised. While the role of PSM can and should be scrutinized, a too-narrow a focus on an informed citizenry may obfuscate aspects, other than audience reach and objectivity, that are key to this information role, such as trust. Against this background, this article studies whether and to what extent citizens still trust the news and information services of their public broadcaster, asking if that trust is still high, whether there is a difference between groups in the population, and if trust is in line with reach. Based on a representative survey of news users in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking community of Belgium, the article studies the reach and trust scores of the brands of VRT, Flanders’ PSM, and compares them to those of its main competitors, with a specific focus on differences in terms of age, education levels, and political orientation. The results suggest that VRT struggles more than the main commercial players to reach young people and the lower-educated, but still leads when it comes to trust. The data show the continued importance of widening our assessment of PSM beyond market-focused indicators of reach.

中文翻译：

---

达到或信任优化？佛兰芒公共广播公司VRT中的公民信任分析

在民主国家，公共服务媒体（PSM）的主要角色之一是向公众宣传。在数字新闻生态系统中，商业新闻，公民新闻和替代新闻来源已经成倍增加，关于PSM履行此角色的能力和需求的问题也越来越多。虽然PSM的角色可以而且应该受到审查，但过于狭a地关注知识渊博的公民可能会迷惑除了受众范围和客观性之外的其他方面，这些方面是此信息角色的关键，例如信任。在此背景下，本文研究了公民是否仍然信任公共广播公司的新闻和信息服务，以及在何种程度上仍然信任该公民，询问这种信任度是否仍然很高，人口群体之间是否存在差异，以及信任度是否一致触手可及。根据对法兰德斯新闻用户的代表性调查，比利时的讲荷兰语的社区，该文章研究了VRT品牌，法兰德斯PSM品牌的覆盖范围和信任度，并将其与主要竞争对手的品牌进行了比较，重点关注年龄，教育水平，和政治取向。结果表明，VRT在争取年轻人和文化程度较低的人方面要比主要的商业参与者付出更多的努力，但在信任方面仍然领先。数据表明，扩大我们对PSM的评估的重要性仍然超出了以市场为中心的范围指标。结果表明，VRT在争取年轻人和文化程度较低的人方面要比主要的商业参与者付出更多的努力，但在信任方面仍然领先。数据表明，扩大我们对PSM的评估的重要性仍然超出了以市场为中心的范围指标。结果表明，VRT在争取年轻人和文化程度较低的人方面要比主要的商业参与者付出更多的努力，但在信任方面仍然领先。数据表明，扩大我们对PSM的评估的重要性仍然超出了以市场为中心的范围指标。