Neighbors Trump Media in the East

In many post‑communist communities people prioritize information from neighbors, friends, and local networks over mainstream media because prior experience taught them to expect official misinformation. That neighbor‑first epistemic ecology produces distinct threat perceptions and fuels different political priorities than in Western media environments. — If local, interpersonal information channels dominate in parts of Europe, policy and media strategies that assume uniform information flows will misread public sentiment and may deepen polarization.