MEDIA SCEPTICISM AND USER EVALUATION OF ONLINE NEWS CREDIBILITY IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

With the increase in alternative news sources, proliferation of fake news and misinformation, and the eroding of trust in mainstream news media, it is increasingly important to understand how individuals’ sceptical predispositions interact with source-order to influence perceptions of information credibility in online settings. An online experiment was conducted to examine how the order of sources affects the perceived information credibility between mainstream and alternative news sources. The moderating influence of media scepticism on this process was also tested. Findings from a sample of local undergraduates at the National University of Singapore (N = 221) showed a significant difference in the change of perceived information credibility between a mainstream and an alternative news source, regardless of the source-order. For mainstream news sources, media scepticism is negatively correlated with perceived credibility of information, while for alternative news sources, media scepticism is positively correlated with perceived credibility of information. The interaction term between source-order and media scepticism was also found to be negatively associated with change in perceived credibility of information. The Belief Adjustment Model was utilised to explain why among audiences with high levels of media scepticism, the alternative news source “lends”credibility to the mainstream news source if they read the mainstream news article first followed by the alternative news article. This suggests the need for mainstream news organisations to carefully consider the role of alternative news media and how they can leverage alternative news sources to “lend” credibility to them.