ABSTRACT
Trust is an essential component of contemporary society, and it ties into the power dynamics between citizens and institutions. Crises often undermine trust, and rebuilding it requires persistent institutional effort. In the current hybrid media environment, both mainstream news media and social media play a significant role in these efforts. This chapter examines how the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) in Finland and the Finnish public service broadcasting company Yleisradio (YLE) engaged in maintaining trust in scientific expertise during the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The chapter analyses construction of trust through the notion of affective discipline, which refers to a set of dynamics and practices to manage public emotions. As trust can be understood as an emotion, the chapter suggests that the theoretical notion of affective discipline can be used to discuss how the media appearances of experts during times of crisis attempt to manage public emotions, including trust in scientific and technological institutions.
