The importance of timely, accurate, and reliable information became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic as the media and the public alike felt the pressures of our vulnerable information ecosystem. The issue of trust in the media also took on a new significance. It was clear that without public trust in media, the effectiveness of awareness messages for health safety would fade away and the public health response to control the pandemic itself could be undermined.

This research study looks at the information needs and news consumption behaviour of the Pakistani public during the pandemic to see what information sources and types of media they relied on for COVID-19 updates. Its primary concern is to determine the level of trust that people assigned to the media and other information sources that provided COVID-19 coverage. The study also attempts to identify whether or not the pandemic generally affected the access to information of citizens. A nationwide survey of 345 individuals was conducted to find out their use and trust perception about media and information sources for COVID-19 news.