Perceptions of news credibility about the war in Iraq: Why War opponents perceived the internet as the most credible medium

58Citations
Citations of this article
86Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

This study investigated cross-media credibility perception with respect to news coverage about the Iraq War. In an environment of political partisanship, perceptions of media credibility were likely affected by the audience's political position on the war. Based on hostile media effect theory, a set of hypotheses was proposed to investigate whether the minority opinion group, war opponents, evaluated the Internet as a more credible medium than did neutrals or supporters. An online survey was conducted to which 481 people responded (71% war supporters, 19% opponents, 10% neutrals). Results showed that opponents of the war perceived the Internet as less aligned with a pro-government position and as more credible than did neutrals or supporters. The opponent group also showed a strong negative correlation between perceived pro-government alignment and perceptions of Internet credibility. For the minority partisan group, the diversity of information and views on the war was the main reason for the perception of high credibility of the Internet as a news channel. © 2006 International Communication Association.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Choi, J. H., Watt, J. H., & Lynch, M. (2006). Perceptions of news credibility about the war in Iraq: Why War opponents perceived the internet as the most credible medium. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(1), 209–229. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00322.x

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free