Despite the low levels of trust that Croatian citizens have expressed toward the mass media and media content, a relatively high degree of trust to the local radio is evident. It is relatively stable and does not record the significant drop under the circumstances of a significant increase in the use of the Internet as a primary source of information. It distinguishes local radio from any other media of mass communication and indicates the need for special investigations of this phenomenon. The issue of trust to the media becomes particularly important in emergency situations when their operation is of vital importance. In this sense, this dissertation researches and seeks to find out the connection and mutual conditionality between relatively higher level of confidence in local radio, particularly its choice as the primary source of information about the emergency situation, and its inherent technological, communication and communicational advantages over other mass media. Through technological, socio-political, socio-cultural, socio-psychological and especially communicological analysis of the position and operation of local radio in contemporary social conditions, and particularly trust to it expressed by citizens, this dissertation tries to demonstrate its unavoidable role in serving the public interest. Special attention is given to its communicational, communication, security, political, social and socio-psychological potential, especially in the case of crisis communication in emergency situations when the radio shows as a key factor of timely informing the public about the crisis happening in the local area and in the context of coordination of activities of collective and individual actors of crisis management system in the protection against the dangers of social groups affected by the crisis event.