Consumers perceive non-traditional Internet sources as less credible than other news sources, a new study indicates.
The implications are that the Internet can be a haven for divergent, even racist, beliefs, says lead author Debra Burns Melican.
“The Internet offers an opportunity for people to reinforce existing beliefs in a way that is different from traditional media,” says Melican, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication Studies. “This reinforcement is of special worry in the area of race.”
She co-wrote a study about media credibility, which appears in the April issue of Communication Research, with Travis Dixon, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Researchers conducted an interactive Web survey with 432 participants.
The study sought to clarify the meaning of Internet news and recognize there may be differences between online sources affiliated with traditional news such as CNN that have editorial practices and journalistic standards, and non-traditional sources like BuzzFlash and the Drudge Report that may not have such standards.
The most credible news source, the study found, was traditional media (all print and television sources) with their online counterparts, followed by print, radio, television and non-traditional Internet.
“As use of Internet increases, and as use of it for news increases, the issue of credibility will become more profound,” Melican says.
The study was theoretically based on selective exposure — a theory in which people tend to expose themselves to ideas that support their beliefs. Additionally, the more people use a medium, the more credible they find it, researchers say.
Non-traditional Internet news sites offer a means for people to focus on information that verifies their existing ideologies, including matters of race. People who are racist may seek these sites. “This may in turn feed the growth of racism and racial animosity,” Melican says.
The study’s sample consisted of Internet users who tended to be slightly more affluent and female than the general population. Since most of the sample was white, future studies should target specific racial and ethnic groups to explore racism and perceptions of news credibility, researchers say.
Melican says further studies are needed to “expand the research into Internet news beyond our categories and to go more in-depth on contrasting sites.” This research must address “the relationship between non-traditional Internet news sites and social inequalities, such as race and social class,” she says.
