The Double-Edged Sword of State Media Credibility: Experimental Evidence from China

Existing research has shown that pubic trust in state-aligned media facilitates political persuasion. However, little is known about how media credibility interacts with political trust when governments exercise control over media outlets acting as watchdogs. This study addresses this research gap by conducting a survey experiment among university students using "real-world" scenarios. We investigate students' trust preferences when presented with two allegedly detained journalists-one affiliated with state media and the other an independent citizen reporter. Our experimental findings first confirm the existence of a "state media credibility premium" as students reported higher trust in the state-affiliated journalist. More importantly, we uncover a significant erosion of trust in government bodies when students perceived restrictions over state media compared to citizen reporter. These results underscore the double-edged implications of state media credibility for regime resilience: while aiding political persuasion, it can also undermine political support when mouthpieces deviate from state directives and trigger media control. By investigating multifaceted government-media relations beyond simplistic propaganda assumptions, this study provides novel empirical evidence on the complex interplay among media credibility, government control, and political trust in the Chinese context.