Citizens’ news use during Covid-19 Concerns about misinformation and reliance on local news in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden

Abstract

This chapter analyses how citizens in four Nordic countries navigated the complex information environment during the Covid-19 pandemic, where news from various sources mixed with abundant information across digital platforms. In response to concerns about false and misleading information in a public health crisis, we ask to which degree Nordic citizens worried about being misinformed regarding Covid-19, and how they evaluated the trustworthiness of pandemic news. In the context of a global crisis affecting everyday life, we ask how people relied on local news for information specifically relevant to their situation. To answer our research questions, we draw on comparative survey data from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, combined with qualitative in-depth interviews on pandemic news experiences in Norway. Our analysis contributes with a contextualised understanding of pandemic news use in the Nordics, emphasising the relevance of societal structures of high trust and extensive news provision.