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HOW HAS MEDIA CREDIBILITY BEEN MEASURED?
THE INTERSECTION OF SELECTIVE EXPOSURE, CREDIBILITY, AND ARGUMENT-SEEKING BEHAVIOR

Over the past 40 years, the public has increasingly perceived the news media to be biased and partisan, even while partisanship rates among the public have remained stable. This perception has accelerated with the development of cable television and the explosion of media outlets on the Internet. A more divided information environment has been created in which cable news, talk radio, and 24-hour news outlets compete for attention. Individuals can access newspapers, radio, and television stations from around the world via the internet. This dramatic increase in the number of available news mediums has enabled news consumers to easily practice selective exposure. People who feel strongly about the correctness of their cause or policy preferences seek out information they believe is consistent rather than inconsistent with their preferences (Iyengar & Hahn, 2009). Selective exposure does appear to correlate with partisanship.

 

Recent studies have shown an increased tendency of Americans to seek out media messages which reinforce their beliefs (Hart et al., 2009; Iyengar & Hahn, 2009; Stroud, 2010). Americans are even more apt to practice selective exposure when searching for partisan sources online (Best et al., 2005; Johnson et al, 2009, 2011). Mutz and Martin (2001) have shown that access to partisan news is associated with declining exposure to other opinions. Other research modifies these findings by suggesting that individuals are less likely to avoid news media that are likely to challenge their views than they are to actively seek agreeable news media (Chaffee et al., 2001; Donsbach, 1991; Garret, 2009; Graf & Aday, 2008). Selective exposure does not, necessarily, mean selective avoidance.

 

Multiple studies have found selective exposure to be linked to credibility (Johnson & Kaye, 2013; Johnson et al., 2009, 2011; Melican & Dixon, 2008; Fischer et al., 2005; Miller et al., 1993; Nimmo, 1990). These studies have found that individuals rate information more credible the more it aligns with their preconceived beliefs, ideas, and worldviews. Correspondingly, these studies have found that individuals rate information as less credible if it is contradictory. Johnson & Kaye (2013) recent study has shown a positive correlation between perceived credibility and selective exposure, suggesting that perception of news credibility may be used as a proxy for selective exposure.

 

Other scholars have found that some individuals do actively seek out opposing viewpoints and contradictory information (Hart et al., 2009; Johnson & Kaye, 2009; Johnson et al., 2009, 2011; Kim; 2011; Knobloch-Westerwick & Meng, 2009). The more confident an individual is in his or her opinion, particularly if the individual is highly partisan or is highly politically interested, then the more likely he or she is to seek out challenging viewpoints. These individuals are confident that nothing can sway their opinions. The current research suggests that these individuals seek out challenging ideas in order to develop better counter-arguments (Garrett, 2009; Hart et al., 2009; Kaye & Johnson, 2011, Knobloch-Westerwick & Meng, 2009). Frey (1986) suggested alternative explanations for seeking out opposing information include an individual’s desire for useful and new information, a desire to be fair-minded, or simply curiosity.

There have been many studies looking into the perceived credibility of mass media, alternative media, partisan news sources, the medium in which the news is presented (i.e., print, television, radio, or internet), and et cetera (Kiousis, 2001). The interesting difference between these studies is how credibility has been conceptualized and measured. Metzger et al. (2003) state that “disagreements about the relative importance of the dimensions of credibility led to the construction of various scales to measure this concept, each reflecting the priority of dimensions identified by particular researchers” (p. 298).

 

Credibility is often used interchangeably with trustworthiness in the literature (Tsfati and Cappella, 2003; Kohring and Matthes, 2007; Golding, et al., 2012). Trustworthiness in turn has been found to contain two distinct characteristics, fairness and justifiability (Hovland & Weiss, 1951). McCroskey & Teven (1999) have argued that credibility rests on three characteristics: competence, trustworthiness, and goodwill. Infante (1980) used three similar measures: trustworthiness, expertise, and dynamism. In this study trustworthiness was operationalized as honest-dishonest, trustworthy-untrustworthy, and sincere-insincere.

 

However, there have been many studies that have gone beyond trust to measure credibility. Johnson and Kaye (1998, 2000, 2009, 2011, 2013) have used the same four measures for their continuing studies, including believability, fairness, accuracy, and depth of information. Rimmer and Weaver (1987) used a set of twelve dimensions to explore the concept of credibility, including: trustworthiness, fairness, bias, completeness, respect for privacy, representation of individual interests, accuracy, concern for community well-being, separation of fact and opinion, concern for public interest, factual foundations of information published, and reporter qualifications. Flanagin and Metzger (2000) operationalized credibility as a five-point concept, which includes believability, accuracy, trustworthiness, bias, and completeness.

In a study on internet users and their perceptions of online media, Johnson and Kaye (2000) suggest that males and those with high levels of education, income, and media use tend to be the most critical of the media in general. Correspondingly, young and less educated females were most likely to judge various online media as the most credible. However, their study also showed that all younger individuals or less educated individuals tend to view an online source as more credible.

 

A study by Adler (2013) looked into where teenagers and adults between the ages of 12 and 34 look for news. It was found that the majority of 18 to 34 year olds surveyed get their news from online sources. For persons between the ages of 12 and 24, 46 percent of those surveyed receive the majority of their news and current events come from social media pages. 31 percent of 18 to 24 year olds think the information they receive on social media sites is of higher quality than traditional news stories.

WHO IS LIKELY TO FIND ONLINE NEWS CREDIBLE?

LITERATURE REVIEW

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