As receivers of information from the media, we are faced with the constant problem of determining what sources are and are not credible. Given that much of what we know of the world around us comes directly from the media (Lippman, 1922), as receivers of messages from the media we realise how important the credibility of a news source is. Many of the attitudes that we form about a wide range of issues in society are formed as a direct result of the coverage we receive through the media, although there are numerous other factors involved such as issue involvement, intensity and closure (e.g., Guttman, 1954). Traditionally a large number of studies have argued that a high credibility source is more effective in causing attitude change than a low credibility source (Hovland & Weiss, 1951; Kelman & Hovland, 1953; Bochner & Insko, 1966; McGuire, 1973), while other experimental research examining the interaction between source credibility and other variables have indicated that there are other factors which have an important mediating effect on the impact of source credibility. To further complicate the issue, researchers have argued that credibility is not a stable attribute that a person assigns consistently to a source. Instead, credibility is highly situational and is a changeable perception by a receiver (Berlo, Lemert, & Mertz, 1969; Smith, 1970; Hayes, 1971; Chaffe, 1982). Also, individual differences of receivers such as age, education, gender, and knowledge about the media and the topic could contribute to the evaluation of source credibility (Westley & Serverin, 1964; Lewis, 1981). In addition, the importance of the issue in the media, the controversiality of the issue, receiver bias, the receiver's involvement with the issue and so on have also been shown to have a relationship with the evaluation of source credibility (Stone & Bell, 1975; Robert & Leifer, 1975; Gunther & Lasorsa, 1986). This thesis thus explores the various complexities involved in the relationship between media credibility and attitude formation by examining the characteristics that play a role in making a news source credible to readers, and then considering those factors that affect attitude change in the receivers of a news message. To achieve this, university students in south-east Queensland were examined in order to investigate attitude change regarding the issue of South Korea as a result of coverage in sources they perceive to be of high and low credibility. The study consisted of three stages: a survey of the university students to determine which newspapers they find to be of high and low credibility, a content analysis of their high and low credibility sources for articles of positive, neutral and negative tone, and finally an experiment which measured subjects' attitude change through reading articles of different tones in high and low credibility sources.

Tales of unethical reporting, conflict of interest, biases and corruption characterize media practice in Zambia today. The advent of technology and the mushrooming of media houses have ironically magnified this trend. Such tendencies have compromised ethical reporting, thus undermining the journalistic credibility. While some scholars call for a return to African ethics, others hanker for greater professionalism. This study offers an overview of the media in Zambia with Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation and the POST newspaper as its case study. The study looks at how virtue ethics would be effective in reclaiming media credibility. Using qualitative methods, data were collected via theoretical and methodological triangulation. Open-ended questions were designed and distributed among 10 Zambian journalists. The interviews were conducted within a period of one month. Findings indicated that media credibility in Zambia has reached unprecedented levels of suspicion and that virtue ethics, if well applied, would redeem the lost credibility.

This dissertation reviews the history and discourse of the debate regarding the use of unnamed sources in journalism. A quantitative and qualitative content analysis explores how the use of anonymous sources has changed over the years. The ethics justifying their use are examined through the lens of utilitarianism. The author offers guidelines for their future use.

This study examines how media logic of news reporting influences climate change journalism on Twitter. It is of great importance that the information about climate change is being properly communicated to the public. However, it is often problematic to send the right message to the public, that would result in public acting towards protecting environment. This happens due to media logic of news reporting that impacts the way climate change is presented by the media. However, previous research indicates that the audience is more likely to trust journalists on Twitter, meaning that is likely for climate change to be represented more accurately there. For this reason, this thesis examines whether this is the case with environmental journalism on Twitter. The aim of this research is to identify the impact of Twitter’s counter-hegemonic discourses towards climate change reporting, to what extent they affect media logic of news reporting. This is done by conducting quantitative content analysis on environmental journalists’ tweets about climate change. Journalists are divided into two groups for comparison of influence of media logic: staff and freelance journalists. The findings demonstrate that when in it comes to credible reporting, staff environmental journalists are less likely to oppose media logic in comparison to freelance journalists. Additionally, neither type of journalist is likely to oppose media logic when it comes to providing public participation promoting reporting. Research is based on Altheide’s theory of media logic.

Covid-19 pandemin har påverkat många länder runt om i världen. Folkhälsomyndigheten i Sverige införde restriktioner och rekommendationer för att skydda samhällets befolkning från att smittas av viruset. I samband med pandemin har det uppkommit ett överflöd av nyheter gällande covid-19 inom både traditionella och digitala medier. Syftet med studien är att undersöka om Folkhälsomyndigheten har påverkats utifrån de olika nyhetsmedier som informerat om covid-19 men även om det finns ett samband mellan studiens fynd och Folkhälsomyndighetens kommunikationsinsatser. Studien har använt sig av source credibility (Hovland et al. 1953) och media credibility (Westley & Severin, 1964; W.Roper, 1959; Bucy, 2003) teorierna som teoretiskt ramverk, relevanta forskningsstudier inom trovärdighet och medier och Folkhälsomyndighetens pandemiberedskapsrapport. Det empiriska underlaget i studien utgår från tolv semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts med respondenter inom två åldersgrupper, 20–25 år och 65–70 år. Det har genomförts en tematisk analys för att hitta likheter och skillnader mellan respondenternas svar vilket utformat teman, public service och trovärdighet, nyhetskomsumption, källhänvisning och trovärdighet, språk och det visuella i samband med trovärdighet, respondenternas bild av Folkhälsomyndigheten, massinformation, Folkhälsomyndighetens påverkan av nyhetsmedier, digitala och traditionella medier och Folkhälsomyndighetens expertis. Studiens resultat visar att det uppkommer en svårighet med att mäta respondenternas trovärdighet till Folkhälsomyndigheten genom nyhetsmedier då det uppkommer andra faktorer som är mer påtagliga än faktorerna expertis och tillförlitlighet inom source- och media credibility teorierna. Dessa faktorer är respondenternas livsstil, vanor, journalistik, visuell påverkan, källhänvisning och public service. Det fanns samband med faktorerna och Folkhälsomyndigheternas sex kommunikationsstrategier och genom att myndigheten tar hänsyn till åldersgruppernas faktorer för trovärdighet kan det gynna deras risk- och konsekvensbedömningar inom kommunikationsarbetet inför kommande pandemier. Slutsatsen är att Folkhälsomyndighetens bild inte har påverkats av nyhetsmedierna. Digitala och traditionella medier har inte varit avgörande för respondenternas uppfattning av Folkhälsomyndighetens trovärdighet. Studien belyser även komplexiteten med trovärdighetsbedömningar då respondenterna hade svårigheter med att särskilja avsändaren, meddelandet och mediet. / The Covid-19 pandemic has affected many countries around the world. The Swedish Public Health Agency introduced restrictions and recommendations to protect society's population from being infected by the virus. In connection with the pandemic, there has been an abundance of news regarding covid-19 in both traditional and digital media. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether the Swedish Public Health Agency has been affected based on the various news media that informed about covid-19, but also whether there is a connection between the study's findings and the Swedish Public Health Agency's communication efforts. The study has used the source credibility (Hovland et al. 1953) and media credibility (Westley & Severin, 1964; W. Roper, 1959; Bucy, 2003) theories as a theoretical framework, relevant research studies in credibility, media and the Public Health Agency's pandemic preparedness report. The empirical basis of the study is based on twelve semi-structured interviews conducted with respondents in two age groups, 20–25 years and 65–70 years. A thematic analysis has been carried out to find similarities and differences between the respondents 'answers, which designed themes, public service and credibility, news consumption, source reference and credibility, language and the visual in connection with credibility, respondents' image of the Public Health Agency, mass information, Public Health Agency's influence on news media, digital and traditional media, and the Swedish Public Health Agency's expertise. The results of the study show that there is a difficulty in measuring the respondents' credibility to the Public Health Agency through news media as other factors arise that are more obvious than the factors expertise and reliability within the source and media credibility theories. These factors are the respondents' lifestyle, habits, journalism, visual impact, source reference and public service. There were connections with the factors and the Public Health Authorities 'six communication strategies, and by the authority considering the age groups' factors for credibility, it can benefit their risk and impact assessments in the communication work before future pandemics. The conclusion is that the Public Health Agency's image has not been influenced by the news media. Digital and traditional media have not been decisive for the respondents' perception of the Public Health Agency's credibility. The study also highlights the complexity of credibility assessments as respondents had difficulty distinguishing between sender, message and medium.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Media Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / For years traditional and digital media have played an essential role of disseminating news and information to keep their target audience always updated about what is happening nationally and internationally. News consumption has globally been experiencing enormous deviations due to advancements in technology. In this context, the study examined and analysed news consumption patterns among the rural youth living in Limpopo Province South Africa. The study employed a sequential mixed research method. A self-administered questionnaire and semi-structured personal interview were used to collect data from youth aged between 18-34 years. A sample of 320 youth participated in the study, with 300 in quantitative and 20 in qualitative methods of research used to gather data for the study. Youth participants were randomly selected using convenience non-probability sampling. The data collected through a questionnaire were analysed using the Statistical Programme for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, inferential and descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were thematically analysed and interpreted considering diverse themes, sub-themes and common statements. The study results revealed that most youth highly preferred to access and consume news through online media more than television and newspapers because digital media are cheap, easily accessible and affordable. The findings further indicated that most youth highly preferred to consume news through television channels such as ETV because it is a credible and reliable source of news. It is highlighted in the results that most youth preferred to consume entertainment news more than business, political and sport news because they find the former interesting and relaxing. Also, most youth did prefer to discuss entertainment news with family members and friends and that there are positive relationships between media credibility and news consumption which tend to influence family and friends’ news discussions. In a nutshell, the findings of this study further suggest a philosophical change in news consumption patterns among South African youth and the operation of media industries. However, the study recommends that most media houses need to broadcast and publish business and political news that are more relevant, accurate and objective for most youth to consume proficiently. Keywords: News media consumption, news discourse, youth, media credibility, new and traditional media.

The media landscape has evolved significantly over the last decades. Previously, the extent of media choice was limited to a handful of newspapers and radio- and TV broadcasts. However, with the rise of cable TV and internet access, people are faced with a multitude of choices regarding what media and content they choose to consume. Scholars have argued that these developments may enable people who are not interested in news consumption to avoid news more than previously. Considering this transformation of the media landscape, this paper aspires to shed light on the factors that affect news media choice. More specifically, the aim of this essay is to study upper secondary school students’ news interest, news consumption and their trust in news media.   This essay employs uses and gratifications and Bourdieu’s symbolic and cultural capital theory to analyze the empirical data. This data is based on 6 semi-structured interviews with students in the first or second year in two upper secondary schools.  The analysis demonstrates that parents’ political interest in addition to students’ uses and gratifications are significant to understand news interest and news consumption among upper secondary school students. Furthermore, the analysis highlights that the interviewees with higher cultural capital perceive news media with a higher symbolic capital as more trustworthy, while students with a lower cultural capital trust tabloid media to a greater extent.

The rise of social media platforms has had a significant impact on the conventional model of gatekeeping. With increased access to information--as well as the ability to contribute to the public discourse--individuals no longer need to rely on the mass media for news. These realities have led to increased conversations surrounding credibility in the digital age. Although not a new concept, fake news has become increasingly common in recent years. The web--particularly social media outlets, like Twitter--have enhanced the spread of misinformation. To combat this, social media platforms have introduced gatekeeping features like verification marks and warning labels. However, questions remain regarding the credibility and effectiveness of these features. Furthermore, little information exists regarding the perceptions of these features. For this study, the researcher examined the perceptions of fake news, verification, and Notices (i.e., warning labels) as they relate to Twitter. These perceptions were captured through a survey that was distributed to Twitter users through MTurk. Results were examined generally as well as in the light of political orientation, ranging from very liberal to very conservative on a 4-point scale. Within the scope and limitations of this study, results indicate that the majority of Twitter users believe that fake news on the platform is a major problem. Additionally, results show that there is no significant difference between the effectiveness of verification and the effectiveness of Notices in slowing the spread of fake news, and neither feature is perceived as strongly credible or effective.