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Comparative Study of Social Media, Television and Newspapers' News

Credibility

Conference Paper · April 2015

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 International Conference on Communication, Media, Technology and Design
16 - 18 May 2015 Dubai – United Arab Emirates

Comparative Study of Social Media, Television and Newspapers’ News Credibility

Apejoye Adeyanju, Plateau State University, Nigeria

Abstract
The advent of social media as a news platform and its patronage daily by people to know what is
happening around them has elicited several comparative studies on the news credibility on social
media, television and newspapers. This study conducted a comparative investigation of the news
credibility of social media, television and newspapers. The study in its research design used both
focus group discussion and the survey method. The researcher employed source effects model as
the theoretical framework for the study. Findings of the research revealed that level of education
and knowledge of internet have influence on the selection and believability of news by
respondents. Likewise, most people rely on another media after their exposure to their preferred
choice of media in other to authenticate the truthfulness of a news story. The study also revealed
that those who placed television and newspaper news as higher on the credibility scale than the
social media did so because news in the newspapers and on television are produced by well
trained personnel and there are institutionalized ways of filtering news stories to ensure their
accuracy and objectivity.

Introduction
Every day people receive information that is far more than they can possibly use. Information
from the mass media, friends, books and lately the internet influences people in their decision
making process and their perceptions of event and happenings around them. The mass media
particularly has become an important organ through which people make meaning out of their
lives, social activities and issues within the society.

People regularly stay glue to their television and radio set for information and flock the
newspaper and magazine stands for same purpose. Even, in a situation where information is
spread around in a society; it does not carry any iota of credibility until such information is
confirmed by the media. For several decades, the mass media especially television, radio,
newspaper and magazines has been a major source of information dissemination such that it
assumed the pivotal role of the ‘fourth estate of the realm’ and also, a societal watchdog.

The news content of the media especially in developing countries like Nigeria where the
government at both state and federal levels dominates ownership has been dogged by questions
like whether the news content is accurate and true or a reflection of the government position.
Similarly, the private media organizations do not fair better as market compulsions and profit
making objectives raise such pertinent questions like whether the media should be accountable to
private interests or the society. This has continued to generate controversies and arguments about
the blurred distinctions between news and views, news and advertisements and propaganda and
information. Also, profit motives and ownership often influence news managers to manipulate
content (Bakshi and Mishra, 2010). This therefore makes the credibility of media content a
concern especially with the mass of information that is available daily for consumption.

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In recent years, new communication technology and the rise of the internet have opened up a
new vista of information dissemination that has never been experienced before. It, especially the
internet, has penetrated people’s daily lives in ways that hitherto are unimaginable. According to
Fogg et al (2001), the growth of the internet since the 1980’s has been faster than the growth of
any other communication medium. The emergence of a new medium often affects existing media
(Liu, 2003) in several ways such as audience base, credibility and production process. The
internet provides an alternative space for expression by citizens against the limited access
provided by the mainstream media of television, radio and newspaper where length of freedom
and space are determined by the government and/or ownership interest. The news media has
transformed people from being passive and at the receiving end of one way mass
communication to becoming producers and transmitters of information (Creeber and Martin,
2009; Bennett, 2003). With this phenomenon, the internet and the news media have assumed
great importance and popularity in the society as people are free to create their own news
comment on issues and get the other side of a story (Rosenstiel, 2005).

As the new media platforms assume an important source of information dissemination and
expression of opinion, the level to which people place trust and credibility in both the
mainstream media and the news media becomes an issue of concern and investigation. It is not
all information that is useful and credible and this explains Griffin (2009)’s argument of source
credibility as one of the three major ways through which speakers convince audience members.
Against this background therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the perception of the
news credibility of social media, television and newspapers.

Literature Review
Credibility
Kaufman et al (1999) explains that the credibility of the news sources is important to audience
members. It is so because it plays a big role in the way the audience interprets and understands
information. The study of media credibility is often approached from two dimensions. These are
medium credibility and source credibility. The source credibility dimension investigates the
expertise and trustworthiness of the person who initiates the message or communication (Holland
and Weiss, 1951; Kiousis, 2001; Seif, 1996). The medium credibility stream on the other hand
evaluates the credibility of media channels the communicator uses in sending a message
(Graziano and McGrath, 1986; Metzger, 2003). Burgoon, Burgoon, & Wilkinson (1981) point
out that credibility is anchored on believability, trust and perceived reliability. Slater and Rouner
(1996) argue that the perception of source credibility by audience can be influenced by the
aesthetic and internal characteristics of messages. Similarly, Chartprasert (1993) contends that
the writing style of a news source whether simplistic or complicated also influences credibility
and perception. One major problem however in credibility research is the question of
distinguishing between source, message and channel credibility.

Social Media
Social media are the various internet based applications that build on the technologies of web 2.0
which allows for the creation and exchange of user generated content. Pew Research (2010)
reports that social network sites such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter are now

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 International Conference on Communication, Media, Technology and Design
16 - 18 May 2015 Dubai – United Arab Emirates

some of the foremost online communication platforms. Bonds-Raacke and Raacke (2010) posit
that gathering and sharing of information as well as maintaining and making friendships are
some of the emerging dimensions of social media. Gangadharbatla (2012) in his study on social
media using the survey method concludes that young adults are more likely to obtain their news
information from social media more so than from the traditional media sources. Johnson and
Kaye (1998) in their study of the usage of the internet for political information by individuals
found that online media are more highly credible than traditional media. However, concerns and
scepticism have been raised on the credibility of social media and online news content because
of the questions of professionalism, anonymity of sender location, etc. (Hilingoss and Rieh,
2008; Fogg, 2003; Kiousis, 2001).

Another factor in the discussion of the credibility of news on social media is whether the
definition of what is news on the mainstream media is the same as the concept of news on the
social media. Also, does the news pass through the filtering (gatekeeping) process of the
mainstream media and if it does, is there any platform of attributing the source of news to a
particular person?

Television and Newspapers

Long before the appearance of the internet and the social media, there has always been the
question of which of the two- newspapers or television- carries the higher level of credibility.
The various credibility studies conducted by Roper Institute up till about 1961 saw the
newspaper as more credible than other forms of mass media (Self, 1996).

Similarly, Wesley and Severin (1964), using demography and psychographics as parameters
argue that literate people prefer newspapers while television appeals to those who read less and
radio is for people in farmlands. Newhagen and Nass (1989) using the survey research method in
their study concluded that audiences rate television news higher on the scale of credibility than
newspapers. They based their argument on the fact that respondents in the study rated news
credibility on television higher because the news presenters on television are familiar and could
be identified while newspapers are a faceless, unchanging structure that does not permit
individual variation. Carter and Greenberg (1966) postulate that television is more believable
when it comes to conflicting news but describe newspapers to be more dependable. Gaziano and
McGrath (1986) in their findings concluded that people’s stands on newspaper and television
credibility were related to their attitudes toward press freedom. Schweiger (2000) asserts that
both internet and non-internet users rated the credibility of newspaper news and the news on the
internet to be similar.

The theoretical framework for this study will be situated within the Source Effects Model with
particular focus on the source credibility strand of the model. The source effect models “…posit
that certain perceived characteristics of a communication source may have a positive effect on
the audience’s reception to the conveyed message” (Erdogan 1999: 297). The source credibility
strand of source effect models explains that the acceptance and favourable response to a message
depends on the perception the audience have about the expertise, trustworthiness and knowledge
of the source (O’ Mahony and Meenaghan, 1988; Erdogan, 1999). It is also about the

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communicator’s positive characteristics that can influence the receiver’s acceptance of a message
(Ohanian, 1990). Goldsmith, Lafferty & Newell (2000:16) argue that source credibility is the
“extent to which the source is perceived as possessing expertise relevant to the communication
topic and can be trusted to give an objective opinion on the subject”. Hovland and Weiss (1951)
confirmed that the “credibility” of a communicator reflects the public perception of the
communicator’s fairness and factualness.
Research Questions
The following research questions will guide this study;
RQ1: What type of news media- television, newspaper and social media- is the most credible?
RQ2: Is there a relationship between demographic antecedents and news credibility?
RQ 3: What are the criteria for evaluating news credibility?

Methodology
This paper has as its objective to comparatively investigate social media, television and
newspaper news credibility. The study therefore used the triangulation method by employing
focus group discussion and survey methods in its research design. For the focus group
discussion, three sessions were conducted with the sample population drawn from the students’
population of Plateau State University through the purposive sampling technique. A total number
of 24 students participated in the focus group discussion.

Questionnaires were administered to 100 respondents for the survey component of the study.
Respondents for the study were selected through simple random sampling technique and the
population comprised of academic staff of Plateau State University, Journalists and readers at
newspaper vendor’s stand. For the analysis, the data collected from the field survey were
analyzed using the simple percentage. The return rate of questionnaire administered was 100% as
all the respondents duly completed their questionnaire and returned the same.

Results
The researcher conducted three sessions of focus group discussion with each session having 8
participants. All the participants for the three sessions are students of Plateau State University.
Morgan (1998) argues that focus groups are characterized by the explicit use of group interaction
to produce data and insights that would be less accessible without interaction found in a group.
Participants were initially asked about their understanding of credibility and their responses
tallied with the operational definition given by the researcher for the study which is the extent to
which a receiver sees the source as having relevant knowledge, skills, experience and trust to
give unbiased and objective information. The following questions were developed to serve as a
guide for the discussions:
1. Do you listen, read or watch news?
2. What is the frequency of carrying out the action in question 1
3. Do you have easy access to the mainstream and online media?
4. On what media platform do you access your news?
5. Of radio, television and online news, which one do you prefer?
6. After your first exposure to news from your media choice, do you still rely on another
media platform for authentication or verification of the story?

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1. All the 24 participants in the three FGDs conducted agreed they all expose themselves to
news media at different times of the day. They also responded that because of their
academic activities, they spend less time watching television, listening to radio or reading
newspaper. Rather, they access most of their news on their mobile handsets connected to
the internet.
2. 82% of the respondents in the three groups were of the opinion that news on the social
media and the internet are more credible than those sourced from the mainstream media.
They said unlike the mainstream media, the internet provides links through which any
information received that is in doubt can further be verified. A hyperlink according to
82% of the respondents is not only to display another document but actually helps in
ascertaining the veracity of a story. When the contents of various pages opened share
similarity with the initial story, the truthfulness of the story is not in doubt. 18% however
think news from the mainstream media is higher in credibility because the gathering,
processing and dissemination of the news involve professional who will not like to
jeopardize their image and social acceptance. They were also of the opinion that news on
the mainstream media is more trustworthy and credible because there are ethical
guidelines that guide their operation unlike the social media platform where anybody
without organization or industry instituted restraints can publish anything.
3. 83% of the discussants in the three sessions accepted that the news accessed most of the
time on the mainstream media largely reflect the elite and the ruling class and very often,
the news is slanted to tow the line of the owner of such news organization. However, the
social media and the internet offer a participatory platform where contributors of news
are not obliged or restrained by any ideological or economic underpinnings.

In summary, the participants obviously because they are of the younger generation and more in
tune with information technology prefer news on the social media and the internet to the
mainstream media.

Survey
100 questionnaires were administered to respondents that included practicing journalists,
academic staff of Plateau State University and readers at newspapers vendors’ stand. All the
questionnaires distributed were completed and returned which made the return rate of the
questionnaire to be 100%. The average age of respondents for the survey component of the study
based on the data collected from the field is 35 years and 25% of the sample population are
female while the remaining 75% are male.

Table 1: Comparison of News Credibility on Television, Newspaper and Social media

I disagree I do not agree I agree
% or disagree %
%

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16 - 18 May 2015 Dubai – United Arab Emirates

Television news is more credible than 28 27 45

other media source

Newspaper news is more credible than 29 30 41

other media source
Social media news is more credible 29 32 39
than other media source
Source: Field work, 2015
According to this data results from the survey, 45% of respondents believe news on television is
more credible than other media source. They attributed this to the fact that news on television are
often accompanied with video which makes such news believable. According to respondents,
news on television are more trustworthy because most often, people that are involved in a
particular issue are invited and before the public view allowed to state their positions. 41%
agreed that newspaper news is credible.

They attributed their responses to the fact that newspaper reporters are well trained and they have
an institutionalized way of determining and verifying news before publication. Another reason is
that newspapers separate for their readers facts from opinion hence such page like “opinion
page” and also identify the source of a story through attribution. 30% do not agree or disagree
on whether newspaper news is more credible. However, 29% disagree and based their responses
on the reason that news content on newspaper sometimes does not reflect reality as the influence
of the owner or the ideology standpoint of a newspaper organization could influence how news is
reported thus questioning the concept of objectivity.

39% of respondents agreed that news on social media is more credible. They based their
response on the reason that most of the news on the social media are news that have already been
disseminated on the traditional media hence, there is no much difference. They argued that social
media provides a platform for people to express their opinion on issue that has already been
disseminated by the mainstream media in which the latter may not have provided or bring to the
public all the angle to such issue. Social media therefore provide a space for people to discuss
exhaustively on the issue and through that, verify the authenticity of the news. 29% of the
respondents however do not agree that social media news is credible.

To them, verification of news and source is difficult on the social media. The news does not pass
through any institutional filtering mechanism and most of the people that post news on the social
media are not trained for such purpose. One interesting observation from respondents is that all
the respondents that disagree with the credibility of social media news are not computer literate
and does not use their phone for social media activities like chatting on Facebook even though
their phones have the facilities.

Table 2: Media platform on which respondents access news

Television Newspaper Social
% % Media

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 International Conference on Communication, Media, Technology and Design
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%
Respondents 100 100 39

Source: Field work, 2015

From the data analyzed all the respondents’ access news from television and newspapers. They
all agreed that one of the two media served as their first point of accessing the news while the
second serve as a platform for confirming what was reported in the first. They said that when the
news reported on their first media choice is reported by their second media choice, it indicates
that the news item is credible. 39% percent of the respondents however access news from the
social media. 95% percent of respondents that access news from the social media are academic
staff which shows that literacy and knowledge of the internet are factors that influence news
credibility.

Conclusion
This study revealed that young adults exposed themselves more to news on the social media and
as such rate news credibility on social media higher. The participatory and hyperlink features of
the social media allows for people to investigate and confirm the authenticity of news. The study
also concluded that level of education and knowledge of internet influence the choice of media
and ultimately, how credibility of news is rated. The researcher also concluded that findings
support O’Mahony and Meenaghan(1988) and Erdogan (1999)’s assertion that acceptance and a
favourable response to a message depends on the perception audience have about the
trustworthiness of the source. Similarly, comparing news credibility between newspaper,
television and social media is influenced by the credibility is influenced by the public perception
of the news platform’s fairness and factualness

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