This project focuses on determining the credibility of online journalism. In addition to identifying ways that paper and broadcast news have made the switch to online sources, the project will also examine news blogging and independent, online-based journalism. From the trends I have discovered in background research and first-hand experience with forms of online journalism, I will formulate a set of guidelines for credible daily news sites. Using these guidelines, I will then critique other news sites. I will also incorporate facets of credible journalism into my own site, in which this work will be showcased. This text and my findings will be implemented on the site in a way that demonstrates my understanding of the principles of online credibility as it applies to journalistic sites.
News media has often been criticized for being untrustworthy and untruthful. The Pew Institute reports a continual drop in news consumers’ perceptions of newspaper credibility, from 25% in 2000 to 19% in 2004 (Pew Research Center 47, 2006). Because people have many resources to use when looking up facts, news companies are no longer the definitive gatekeepers of information (MacKinnon 16). News media moguls who present themselves as objective and unbiased, such as Fox News Channel, are often exposed as biased, lessening public trust in news sources.
The Pew Institute’s survey of news credibility in 2006 found that Fox News Channel has a right-wing tilt, revealed by the rise of Republican trust in the station, and a significant drop in Democratic trust (Pew Research Center 47, 2006). This revelation would not be so detrimental to the channel’s reputation, except that the channel presents its news stories as “fair and balanced,” using a slogan like “We report, you decide” (Ackerman 2001). With a standpoint that is contradictory to the bipartisan results of the credibility survey, Fox News hurts journalism overall by lying to its consumers. The Internet is presenting a new opportunity for journalism to rectify itself with its consumers, not only by presenting credible media, but by becoming more involved with the public viewpoint.
By utilizing the opportunities for user interactivity and input, which involves the user in the journalistic process, news organizations can begin to bring the audience closer to the news and regain user trust. News bloggers and independent journalism contribute to this user interactivity, as participatory journalism gives the average citizen a voice that may not always be covered by professional journalists.
Tom Curley, the President and CEO of the Associated Press, says that traditional press “can’t help but benefit from this new engagement (amateur writers contributing to journalism using the web), and if some of the new ‘consumer-contributors’ become ‘professionals’ in their own right—well, then you’ve got more potential members for the ONA (Online News Association)"(Curley 2004). If connected and coordinated with one another, news media has the potential to provide the global audience with newsworthy, credible information via the Internet. Curley states “It’s a new community that’s forming in the news and information space. The ‘neighbors’ may not all like each other, but we’re all part of the same network, like it or not" (Curley 2004).
This Project
The first section of this project is a survey of the research available on Internet journalism and its effects on global media. It explains how the Internet as a news medium works as it does, including motivation, social implications, and audience members in the journalistic process through opportunities for feedback and input. This section also includes a survey of the work that has already been conducted on the topic of online journalistic credibility. I will examine the theories and structures behind previous examinations of web credibility, from such sources as Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab, Kenneth C.C. Yang of the University of Texas’ Department of Communication, and Indiana University’s Erik P. Bucy.
The second section of the project will take the knowledge I have gained from my research and apply it to existing sites. I will critique web sites from large news corporations, independent journalists, and news bloggers. In addition, I will also design and develop a website that applies the trends and guidelines I discover to my own work.