new media credibility - blotz typology

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

New Media Credibility: How Journalists Can Build Trust and Believability in Online and Social Media Channels

Forming A New Online Credibility Model

Timothy Blotz

4/19/2011

New Media Credibility: How Journalists Can Build Trust and Believability in Online and Social Media Channels.

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Abstract

The rapid expansion of consumers using social media and seeking news online presents a unique challenge for journalists and news organizations. The challenge is to not only reach news users in new channels that are already crowded with information, but to build and maintain their credibility as trusted and reliable news sources for those very users. If branding is all about reputation, then how does a journalist craft a reputation for credibility in new media? This study looks at existing research on trustworthiness and expertise as it relates to source credibility and media credibility. Additionally it uses primary research conducted in the Minneapolis-St. Paul television market which reveals that today’s news users want to have the ability to comment, contribute, and share the news they view online. The combined research strongly suggests that journalists can build a reputation as a credible online source by providing content that is authoritative, authentic, objective, and collaborative. But most important, this study borrows the most credible attributes of old media channels to form a new model, or typology of new media credibility that places user collaboration into the centerpiece of the construct. By using this new model as a guide, journalists and their organizations may be able to achieve new levels of reputation loyalty from their followers and users.

There’s an old axiom in journalism that a reporter is only as good as his credibility. Recent

research by The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that no more than a third of the

public says it believes most of all of the reporting by 14 major news organizations. (Pew, 2010) In other

words, there’s a substantial credibility gap. But as many journalists migrate from old media to new

media, can they maintain their credibility or possibly even grow it?

Internet News Consumption

News consumers have more choices from where to get their news than ever before. Emerging

technologies have expanded not only the channels by which consumers have access to news, but

they’ve also expanded the number of outlets and voices. From Guttenberg’s first Bible to smart phone

applications, growing technologies have given people access to information, news and opinion at an


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ever expanding rate. Competition among news and media sources is nothing new. (Compaine, 1985)

Many of today’s new media technologies offer consumers an array of alternatives to getting news rather

than replacing older technologies and channels. In a marketplace where new media co-exists with old

media the construct of a once powerful mass media is quickly waning. These new technologies have

blurred the boundaries of traditional media formats and content, and are offering new options for

accessing and sharing information and ideas. (Compaine) The fragmentation of mass media channels

means that the news consumer can narrowly focus on getting only the information they choose at a

time and place that’s convenient for them.

Perhaps nothing illustrates the rapidly

changing media landscape more than how

consumers are choosing to access news. Until the

rapid expansion of television news programming

in the 1970’s, newspapers were the primary

choice for people wanting to learn of community

and world events. Television has long since

surpassed newspapers as a primary source of

news for most Americans, and now brand new research indicates the internet has surpassed

newspapers as well. An extensive study by The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found

that 47% of Americans now get some of their local news from mobile phones or tablet computers. (Pew,

2011) This is a stunning finding considering the relative newness of smart phone technology and that

tablet computers have only been in the consumer market for a year. When a separate Pew study asked

where people got their news three or more days a week, the internet now ranks second only to

television—and not by much. (Pew, 2011) (Figure 1) Even more revealing is the pace at which news

consumers are turning to the internet. Americans are spending more time consuming news than ever

Figure 1


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before (Pew) but when it comes to platform

choice, the web is dramatically gaining ground

while other platforms are losing. (Figure 2) In

December of 2010, 41% of Americans cited the

internet as the place where they got “most of

their news about national and international

issues,” up 17% from the year before. (Pew) Of

the major platforms it is the only one to gain audience share; all of the remaining old media channels

lost ground including cable TV--down nearly 14%.

Many news consumers are flocking to

the internet in part because they have

exponentially more channels to use. Web

logs or “blogs” have become among the more

expansive internet channels. In existence

only since the mid 1990’s (The Economist,

2006) these collections of narrative postings,

opinions, and information dockets have built

a major presence on the web. According to

Nielsen there are thousands of new blogs formed each day. (Nielsen, 2011) In fact, as of March 14,

2011, Nielsen identified more than 157 Million blogs of which more than 80,000 new blog pages were

created in the past 24-hours. During that same time frame, people posted 1.3 million blog entries.

(Nielsen) The real-time tracking graph on BlogPulse.com (Figure 3) shows most of the blog posts (about

30%) consist of personal diaries while the remaining posts are left to news, sports, politics, and pop-

culture.

Figure 2

Figure 3


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Twitter is also an increasingly popular online channel. The micro-blogging site allows the user to

send a message, or Tweet, of 140 characters or less. Since Twitter was introduced in 2006, it has

attracted a mass user base that is rapidly expanding. By Twitter’s own account it now has 175 million

registered users with 95 million Tweets a day. (Twitter, 2011) The math works down to about 1,099

Tweets every second.

Facebook is by far the most prolific. As of early 2011 it reports more than 500 million active

users, half of whom log onto the social networking site every day. (Facebook, 2011) The draw to

Facebook is the opportunity to connect and interact with Friends. But often times that relationship

involves the sharing of news. In fact Facebook, Twitter, and blogs are at the center of the story for how

people’s relationship to the news is changing. Extensive research by Pew Internet has revealed new

insights into the relationship and usage. (Pew, 2010) The phone survey of 2,259 adults showed that the

consumers’ experience with news, especially on the internet is becoming a shared social experience

where people swap links, post stories on

their Facebook page, highlight stories in

their Tweets and participate in discussion

threads. For instance, 72% of the news

consumer cohort in the study said one

reason why they search for news is because

they enjoyed talking about it with family,

friends, and colleagues. (Pew) In other

words, it’s become their “water cooler”

connection. A quarter of all internet users

Figure 4


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say they’ve commented on an online story, 17% more posted news links on their Facebook page.

(Pew)(Figure 4)

These findings by Pew

substantially mirror primary research

results conducted in the Minneapolis-

St. Paul television market among

news consumers who engage online

with KMSP-TV/Fox 9 News. In an

online survey of 1116 respondents

about their social media usage, two-

thirds (66%) say they use social media

to get news. (Blotz, 2011)(Figure 5)

Nearly half (46%) indicated they use social media to connect with online news organizations. More than

half (57%) said they use social media to share news online. When questioned about the relationship

they’d expect to get if they “liked” Fox 9 on Facebook or “followed” Fox 9 on Twitter, 73% either

somewhat or strongly agreed that they wanted to comment or contribute to Fox 9 news programs.

(Blotz)

Because online news users tend to engage with stories that interest them, it’s perhaps no

surprise that the stories which gain traction in social media differ substantially from those that lead in

the mainstream press. (Project for Excellence in Journalism, 2010) The project for Excellence in

Journalism tracked blogs, Twitter, and YouTube for 29 weeks in 2010 and discovered that all three

channels shared the same top story only once. That week was June 15-19 when all three followed the

Iranian elections. (PEJ) The Project made some significant discoveries:

66%

46%

57%

73%

Get News Connect With News

Organizations

Share News Online

Comment on News Stories

KMSP-TV/Fox 9 Social Media Survey

Figure 5


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Social media and the mainstream press pursue different agendas. Blogs shared the same lead story with the traditional media in just 13 of the 49 weeks studied. Twitter was even less—just 4 of the 29 weeks studied.

Stories that gain traction in social media do so quickly, often within hours of the intial report. They leave quickly as well. Just 5% of the top five stories on Twitter remained among the top five the following week. This was true for 13% of the stories in blogs. In the mainstream press, 50% of the top five stories remained the top stories one week later.

Blogs rely heavily on the mainstream press. More than 99% of the storeis linked to in blogs came from legacy newspapers and broadcast networks. (PEJ)

Each of these social media channels also seem to have their own personality and function.

Bloggers tend to gravitate toward political issues that eilicit emotion, or concern individual or group

rights. (PEJ) Twitter’s short messaging structure focuses on passing along important information or

breaking information in a way that assumes a shared value within the community. Facebook allows the

user to comment on their friends’ status and share links to news stories and websites. User’s of

YouTube don’t often add comments but instead take part by selecting from millions of videos and

sharing them with their friends. (PEJ)

This rich and increasingly expanding marketplace of digital channels poses a crucial question for

journalists . As the consumer engages with more news through these channels, how can journalists

themselves maintain their individual brands and reputations? Equally as important, how can the

consumer know that the online news they’re reading is trustworthy? Both form the heart of this

study’s central research question:

R-1: How can journalists maintain credibility in online media platforms?

Yale University Pychologist Carl Hovland laid much of the foundation for credibility and

trustworthiness with his Yale studies in the early 1950’s. Hovland performed a number of experiments

to prove that credibility was directly related to trustiworthiness. (Hovland & Weiss, 1951) Hovland

established the notion of source credibility; the believability of a message and the power to change


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opinion is directly related to the trustworthiness and expertise of the source. (Hovland & Weiss) In his

experiment he gave two groups identical articles—one purportedly written by a highly trustworthy

source, the other by an untrusworthy source. Even though the artricles were eactly the same, the

group which read from the trustworhty source considered it more credible. Therefore, the more

trustworthy or expert a source, the more believeable the message. (Hovland & Weiss) Many scholars

have tested and expanded upon Hovland’s research , among them Jack Whitehead who added

dynamism and objectivity to the dimensions of source credibility. (Whitehead, 1969) Dynamism

specifically relates to speakers and their ability to be energetic, bold, decisive and proud. Objectivity

also added to source credibility if the person is percieved as open-minded and impartial. (Whitehead)

Further research concluded that likeability tends to swamp expertise. (McGinnies & Ward, 1980) Elliott

McGinnies’ research among 1055 subjects in four countries reconfirmed Hovland’s theory of

trustworthiness and expertise, however McGinnies discovered a trustworthy source was more

persuasive whether or not he was an expert. (McGinnies & Ward) In an extensive review of source

credibility research, Chanthika Pornpitakpan concludes, “Almost all of the main effect findings suggest

that a high-credibility source is more persuasive than is a low-credibility source in both changing

attitudes and gaining behavioral compliance.” (Pornpitakpan, 2004)

The research implications for the journalist are clear. To be percieved as a credible source, the

journalist needs to be seen by his audience as knowledgeable, trustworthy, articulate and impartial. To

be sure, a good deal of a journalist’s credibility is derived from the news organization he works for.

(Kang, Keunmin, & Shaoke, 2009) News organizations are brands in and of themselves. When someone

reads an article from the New York Times or views and internet posting from the BBC it is percieved to

be more trustworth than an article from The National Enquirer. (Kang, Keunmin, & Shaoke) (Hayes,

2007) They market information to consumers who chose them over other news competitors based

upon loyalties, reputation, and especially credibility. (Gunther, 1988) In an era where the internet has


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made news a free commodity, journalists more than ever before have to rely on creating and protecting

their own credibility to build and grow an audience.

Arthur Hayes argues that journalists earn their trust through regularly providing information

that is credible. (Hayes) Hayes builds a credibility construct for journalists that focuses on three broad

values: authenticity, accountability, and autonomy. But journalists can only earn credibility if their

readers or users grant it. Therefore Hayes assembles a list of ten questions for news consumers to

critically elaborate upon.

1. Do I want news and opinion that exclusively agrees with my opinion? 2. Do I want news mixed with opinion? 3. Do I care whether news and opinion are clearly distinguished from one another? 4. Does my source of information facilitate public discourse? 5. Does this source break news itself or merely aggregate? 6. Are some articles based on first-hand observations rather than secondary

sourcing? 7. Is my source of news transparent? 8. Are the sources used in articles clearly identified? 9. Are all sides asked to comment within an article? 10. Are errors corrected promptly and prominently?

If the news consumer’s answer to questions 1 & 2 is “yes” and the answer is “no” to question 3,

then Hayes argues the consumer should have at it—there are plenty of opinionated and partisan

websites and blogs for people to choose from. There is also a growing body of research to suggest that

these opinionated stories and blogs have little credibility. (Meyer, Marchionni, & Thorson, 2010)

(MacKay & Wilson, 2007) Hans Meyer used 140 adults to test four different story constructs: straight

news, collaborative stories, opinionated stories and blogs. His results showed that opinionated stories

and blogs lacked credibility and expertise. (Meyer, Marchionni, & Thorson) Even among politically

motivted news consumers there are not sufficient research results to show that online sources are more

credible. (MacKay & Wilson) Hayes argues from a purely ethical positioin that opinionated online

content, including many blogs, lack such journalistic values as verification, objectivity, and disclosure of

personal and political biases to make them anything but credible.


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With regards to question #4, “Does my information source facilitate public discourse?,” the

consumer needs to ask whether the story is in the realm of public affairs and enlightens public

knowledge. Likewise, the journalist himself needs to ask the same question of his story. Many times

these lines are blurred. For instance, David Letterman interviewing President Obama on the Late Show

would likely be considered by the Federal Communications Commission as an interview in the public

interest and therefore a bonifide news event. In fact, Howard Stern’s radio show, Bill Maher’s Politically

Incorrect television show and even Jerry Springer have all qualified for FCC exemptions from the equal

opportunites requirement under the Communications Act of 1934. (Hayes) In producing credible online

content, the journalist needs to be factual, reliable, and original.

Question #5 gets at the heart of why many online news business models have struggled: Does

this source break news itself or merely aggregate? Aggregator sites such as GoogleNews and Yahoo!

simply collect online postings from around the web and package it on a page where consumers can

cherry pick the stories they want. Among online news users, more people log onto GoogleNews and

AOL than any other source—56%. (Project for Excellence in Journalism, 2010) Among young users 18-29

the dominance of the aggregators is even higher—68%. There are perhaps two points of view. First,

consumers seem to choose the news portals not because they’re credible, but because they’re

convenient. Second, the portals are not choosing stories based upon journalistic credibility, but instead

upon mathematic algorythms. (Hayes) In other words, aggregator sites don’t break news or generate

news, they simply collect it from organizations that do generate content. Interestingly, research shows

that the credibility of the news portal is somewhat dependent upon the credibility of the the news

organizations it draws content from. (Kang, Keunmin, & Shaoke) In a study of 238 adults, Hyunin Kang

found that the credibility of a portal sight is positively related to the credibility of a news story posted on

the site and the credibility of the news organization that publihsed it. The implication for the journalist

is that they are the ones who give credibility to the aggregators and not the other way around.


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Question #6 also strikes at the heart of journalistic credibility: “Are some articles based on first-

hand observation rather than secondary sourcing?” It gets down to whether the writer is an

eyewitness of events, the primary interviewer of a source, or is the writer merely requoting a second or

third hand account of the facts. One of the tenents of journalism is verifying the facts of events that one

doesn’t witness or encounter first hand. Those that do, come closer to building their own source

credibility through authencity and accountability. (Hayes) It therefore becomes a critical question for

the consumer to ask when measuring the credibility of a story, especially blogs. Mark Lecesse traced

more than 2000 hypertexts from six widely read blogs and discovered very few primary sources.

(Leccese, 2009) Three liberal blogs consisting of Daily Koss, Talking Points Memo, and Crook and Liars

were examined along with three conservative blogs Michelle Malkin, InstaPundit, and Power Line. The

findings showed less than 15% of all the information which made up these blogs were hyperlinked to

primary sources. Nearly half linked to mainstream media. (Leccese) The research concludes that

political blogs are like newspapers comprised of only op-ed pages that get all of their information from

secondary sources. Largely because of this and the fact that many blogs reflect a high level of opinion,

Meyer discovered in his own research that readers percieved blogs to have a lower expertise level than

that straight news stories and even collaborative stories. (Meyer, Marchionni, & Thorson)

Question #8 address the journalistic core value of atttribution: Are the sources used in the

article clearly identified? Attributing sources and identifying key stakeholders makes for not only a

more transparent news story, but a truthful story. It lets the reader know that the reporter didn’t make

up the facts on his own. Use of evidence and citations and source material significanty enhances a

user’s assesment of the writer’s credibility. (Metzger, Flanagin, Eyal, Lemus, & Mccann, 2003)

Additionally, more than credibility suffers when there’s a lack of transparency and attribution; so does

news clarity. (Rupar, 2006)


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Perhaps the most central of Hayes’ credibility questions for online journalists and news

consumers alike is question #9: Are all sides asked to comment within an article? This very question

speaks to the key strength of the internet: the ability to allow users to have mulitple conversations with

each other. It’s the key asset of what we’ve come to know on social networking sites such as Facebook

and Twitter. But what makes Facebook so successful is what also makes an online news story more real

and credible to the reader—the ability to comment and participate in the story itself. (Meyer,

Marchionni, & Thorson) The best and brightest in the

pillars of journalism know this. Michael Skoler at the

University of Missouri School of Journalism said as

much recently when he openly scolded fellow

journalists. “The old journalism, with its over-reliance

on the same experts and analysts, is out of touch with a

culture of information sharing, connection and

collective wisdom of diverse voices passing along direct

experience,” (Skoler, 2009) Skoler clearly sees social

media not only as a way for journalists to build their

credibility with news consumers but as a way to

become relevant in the news marketplace. These

new online technologies allow journalists to transform themselves from being lecturers to instead

create an evolving practice known as converstation jounralism. (Anderson, Dardenne, & Killenberg,

1994) Meyer’s research shows that people respond positively to being a part of the story. (Meyer,

Marchionni, & Thorson, p. 116) His testing of four different story contructs on 140 people found that

the concept of participatory coorientation struck a middle ground between giving readers what they

need in a story and what they want. Even though the study’s participants were not able to set the

“Only the savviest of

journalists are using the

[social] networks for the real

value they provide in today’s

culture—as ways to

establish relationships with

others. The bright news

organizations and

journalists spend as much

time listening on Twitter as

they do tweeting.”

-Michael Skolar


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media agenda themselves, they rated the collaborative story as the model they liked best. (p. 116)

Additionally, the collaborative model scored higher in credibility than did opinionated stories and blogs.

(p. 111) Meyer’s results make it clear that the most important elements for source and organizational

crebility for journalists is expertise and collaboration.

The primary research conducted for KMSP-TV

supports these already existing studies. Consumers who

use social media indicate they are looking for news and

want to participate in the news. (Blotz) As noted earlier,

fully two thirds of more than a thousand respondents

indicated they’re involved with social media to “get

news.” The research indicated that online users

specifically like social media because it gives them the

chance to be part of the conversation of news stories. In

fact, when specifically asked if following Fox 9 on any social media platform was a waste of time, 65% of

the respondents disagreed. (Figure 6) Furthermore, nearly half indicated they’d rather follow Fox 9 in

social media as opposed to its website, myfox9.com.

Perhaps the holy grail of the survey is the strong

indication of converting social media followers into

becoming newscast viewers. Measured on a 6-point

Lickert scale, 70% indicated they were “likely” or

“very likely” to watch a Fox 9 newscast that day after

reading a news story posting on either Facebook or

Twitter. (Figure 7) Based upon Meyer’s research, the

Figure 6

Figure 7


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strong implication for KMSP-TV is that there is a teriffic opportunity for both its news department and

individual journalists to build organizaitonal and source credibility by actively partcipating in

collaborative social media platforms.

Together the research allows us to build a proposition for an operational model for journalists

and news organizations.

P-1: Journalists can create online credibility through a triad model based on layout, content, video, and collaboration. Hayes’ core construct on authentictiy, accountability and autonomy combined with Hovland’s

theory on source credibility lay a significant foundation for building a new model of online credibility. In

an extensive review of existing credibility research, Miriam Metzger takes it a few steps further.

Metzger’s analysis finds significant merit not only relying on source credibility, but on message and

media credibility as well. (Metzger, Flanagin, Eyal, Lemus, & Mccann) While online news is its own new

media communicaitons channel, it borrows basic form and functionalities from old media. In other

words, it takes elements of the written word, design, layout, and video and combines them to form a

new and more accessbile means of communication. Therefore borrowing the most credible elements

from old media and using them in new media platforms can be an effective strategy toward boosting

credibility.

One of the primary elements is web page design. Significant research has indicated that

perceptions of trustworthiness can be influenced by manipulating the graphic layout and colors on a

web page. (Kim & Moon, 1998) Korean scholars Jinwoo Kim and Jae Yun Moon found that graphic

design and layout of the web page title, menu, art and color had a significant effect on perceptions of

trustworthiness. In the end the internet is a technical creation, but visual design plays an important

factor in trust-building. (Chadwick, 2001) Furthermore, if the web page is not user-friendly in terms of


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search capabilities it dramatically affects its perceptions of credibility. (Fogg, 2001) Ease of use both in

terms of visual construct and information utility therefore become an important component of

credibility. In many respects, these mirror the cedible design elements of magazines: visually appealing

layout, colors, graphics and usability.

Of course as this paper has already noted, a secondary element critical to web credibility for

journalists is the very content they produce. As Hovland has established, the journalist himself

becomes a credible source through the trust he builds with an audience by providing accurate and

useful information. But there’s also the dimention of message credibility. Metzger found that as

perceptions of message quality increase, so do the assements of source credibility. (p. 303) Other

scholars incluidng Soo Young Rieh note that content and accuracy are key elements people consider

when evaluating online information. (Rieh & Nicholas, 1998) While source credibility was important on

both institutional and individual levels, Rieh discovered that the quality of the source, writing style, and

verifiability also played large roles for users evaluating the credibility of information. (p. 10) Therefore

it’s not a far reach to establish that the core tenents of print journalism, especially newspapers, transfer

well into the online environment for building an essential component of a new online credibility model.

The use of video anchors the third corner of this new model. One of the most credible aspects

of television is that it’s a relational medium. People can watch video and immediately judge it as real

and view it through the lens of their own personal experiences. In other words, “seeing is believing.”

Metzger argues this gives online news sites a measure of extreme crebility. (p. 311) In fact, numerous

studies show the visual elements of television are why people consistently rank it as one of the most

believable mediums. (Wilson & Douglas, 1978) Gunther also notes that the visual nature of television,

especially news, make it appear more objective than newspapers because the greater mediation

exposes the motives and intentions of the communicator or journalist. (Gunther, 1988) Like television,


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online channels can offer currency by giving users up-to-the-minute coverage of events through

streaming video. Therefore, the immediacy, believeability and cognitive connectability of video make it

an important element for a journalist’s or journalistic organizaiton’s online presence.

Combining the three crucial elements of credibility, we can therefore create a new model, or

typology of new media credibility based upon the triad of credibility characteristics from old media.

Figure 8

Layout/Design: Easy, appealing and dynamic web page design is more credible (Borrowed from Magazines)

Content/Context: Complete, multi-sourced, and authoritative information is more credible (Borrowed from Newspapers)

Video: Seeing is believing (Borrowed from Television)

However, with what we now know about co-orientation and collaboration becoming an

essential component of what users want and view as credible in the online world (Meyer, Marchionni, &

Thorson) (Anderson, Dardenne, & Killenberg) (Skoler) (Blotz), this now becomes a key contruct for


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journalists and their organizations. Therefore, adding the utility of collaboration and shareability to the

center of the new typology gives us a credibility model based upon what truly makes new media unique

from old media.

Figure 9

Using this typology, journalists and news organizations can evaluate the percieved crediblity of

not only their websites, but postings on those websites and in social media. For the purpose of

illustration, lets compare and contrast two online news sites, myfox9.com and the startribune.com.


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Figure 10

Layout/Design: A Mess. Can’t find information/stories. Too much clutter. Interface is clunky and slow. Credibility: Low

Layout/Design: Better. A lot of information and advertising clutter, but the interface is reasonably fast, and very searchable. Credibility: Medium

Content/Context: Source credibility of an established news organization gives it expertise and trust. Stories are sourced and readable. Credibility: High

Content/Context: High source credibility of an established news organization. Credibility: High

Video: Yes. Although viewers complain the site doesn’t post often enough. Credibility: High

Video: Very limited Credibility: Low

Collaboration/Shareability: Mixed bag. Viewers can share content through social media channels, but there is no opportunity to comment and contribute stories. Credibility: Medium

Collaboration/Shareability: Yes. Readers can both comment and share on all stories. Credibility: High

The above evaluation, although subjective in nature, gives the journalist an instructive

heuristic to judge their online content as their users would do. By aligning their websites and content

against the typology they can assess whether their content is viewed as trustworthy, credible, and

believeable.


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Discussion

This study has shown how journalists in the online channels can achieve and maintain

crebibility. Many of the concepts of source credibility developed by Hovland and the Yale studies fifty

years ago still very much apply in the new media landscape. Believability of a message and the power to

change opinion is still directly related to the trustworthiness and expertise of the source. (Hovland &

Weiss) Additionally, what largely gives a journalist credibility from information accuracy to

comprehensiveness and currency are largely transferable from channel to channel. (Metzger, Flanagin,

Eyal, Lemus, & Mccann) Established news organizaitons have sets of editorial standards, control

practice that allow them to maintain this crediblity. But with so much information available on the

internet, there are few filters and standards for which to judge the free flow of information. As Metzger

notes, the core component of source, message, and medium credibility is now the responsibility of the

user or consumer. (p. 294) Hayes gives that very user a construct toward evaluating credibility through

a series of useful questions to ask while reading an online posting or viewing a website. (Hayes) By

understanding Hayes’ analysis, journalists can therefore provide a high level of credibility by essentially

communicating or providing content in a way that measures up to the analysis that consumer should be

using.

But most important, Metzger’s analysis of various measures of old media credibility combined

with new media research by Meyer gives us the opportunity to create a new model for evaluating online

credibility. This new model is a three part typology based upon webpage layout and design, content,

and use of video. But central to the typology is the interactive socialability component that is unique to

web. Without creating the ability for users to comment, share and contribute, journalists posting static

information online are guilty of performing the same one-way communication that consumers are


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increasingly rejecting. By using the typology as a measure, journalists and their organizations can better

evaluate whether they’re providing information that their users will view as credible, believable and

useful.

Still, online communication platforms are dynamic and constantly changing. As more consumers

access the internet via mobile devices (Pew, 2011)it will inherently change how they interact with

information. Equally as important, it may change the context of how they define credibility. As more

consumers access facebook and get used to 140 character Twitter messages, will they any longer have

the appitite or attention span for long format stories? For instance, long format news articles have

already become frustratingly difficult to consume on a smart phone thereby having a negative effect on

both the source and medium credibility. The same is true for large video files that won’t download onto

a mobile device. Likewise for a website not optimised for mobile use. Therefore, a new area of

credibility research needs to closely follow consumer trends and technologies. With the emergence of

the new category of mobile tablet computing, the field is wide open for new discoveries on what forms

of news and information consumers will use on these platforms and how they view them as credible.

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new media credibility - blotz typology

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