Public Trust or Mistrust? Perceptions of Media Credibility in the Information Age

TLDR

The article examines how people perceive the credibility of television, newspapers, and online news. A survey of randomly selected Austin residents assessed attitudes toward the three media channels, incorporating media use and interpersonal discussion as influencing factors. Results show that respondents generally distrust all three media, ranking newspapers as most credible, followed by online and TV; credibility perceptions are correlated across outlets, with interpersonal discussion negatively linked to TV credibility, positively linked to online credibility, and media use showing only a marginal association with credibility overall.

Abstract

Abstract This article explores perceptions of news credibility for television, newspapers, and online news. A survey was administered to a randomly selected sample of residents in Austin, Texas, to assess people's attitudes toward these 3 media channels. Contingent factors that might influence news credibility perceptions, such as media use and interpersonal discussion of news, were incorporated into the analysis. Findings suggest that people are generally skeptical of news emanating from all 3 media channels but do rate newspapers with the highest credibility, followed by online news and television news, respectively. Furthermore, opinions about news credibility seem to be correlated across media outlets. The data also show a moderate negative linkage between interpersonal discussion of news and perceptions of media credibility for television news but not for newspapers. When controlling for basic demographics, a positive correlation was found between interpersonal communication and online news credibility. Finally, a marginal association was noted between media use and public perceptions of credibility across all 3 media channels.