Credibility of Online News Sites

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Credibility of Online News Sites

• Maria Kourenina

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Web-Only Sites More Likely to Post Editorial
Policies Than Are Daily Paper Sites

• William P. Cassidy
• Newspaper Research Journal
• University of Memphis
• Winter 2005 Vol. 26, Issue 1

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Concerns About the Credibility of Online News

• High speed at which a story can be posted online
• Heightens competition among journalists
• Makes errors more common
• Linking of news content with advertising
• The relationship between online news sites and
  their sponsors is difficult for readers to
  understand, especially when it comes to editorial
  content
• Linking articles to commerce is more powerful
  online than it is in print

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Credibility Statements

• Several online media critics have suggested that
  these issues can be addressed by posting
  credibility statements on the homepages of
  web-only and daily paper sites.
• These statements address the standards and values
  of the news sites as well as their corporate
  relationships.

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Credibility Statement Criteria

• A set of guiding journalistic principles
• An employee code of conduct
• Standards for separating editorial content from
  advertising
• Information stating the news sites business
  relationships
• Information disclosing how those business
  relationships relate to editorial coverage
• Information disclosing corporate parentage

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Benefits of Credibility Statements

• Help gain the trust of the public
• Demonstrate that online news sites are
  accountable to their readers
• Boost the reputation of web-only news sites that
  do not have a traditional newspaper to back them
  up
• Eliminate confusion for the public who have a
  hard time recognizing the difference between
  online content and commerce

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Research Questions

• To what extent are daily newspaper web sites and
  web-only news sites posting statement regarding
  their editorial policies?
• Are web-only news sites more likely than daily
  newspaper sites to post statements regarding
  their editorial policies?
• What types of information are contained in
  statements regarding the editorial policies of
  daily newspaper web sites and web-only news?

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Research Method

• A total of 196 news sites were content analyzed
  (111 daily newspapers and 85 web-only news sites)
• Online editions of the top 100 daily US
  newspapers by circulation based on March 31,
  2004, figures were made part of the sampling
  frame as were the top papers in the 11 states not
  represented in the top 100
• The unit of analysis was the home page of each
  site
• The six credibility statement criteria were used
  to analyze the content of the sites

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Research Results
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Research Results
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Research Results

• 118 (60.2) of the sites analyzed posted
  information satisfying at least one of the six
  criteria.
• Web-only news sites were much more likely (68)
  than daily newspaper sites (54) to do so.
• Almost 90 of the sites posting information about
  their editorial policy disclosed their corporate
  parentage.
• More than half discussed journalistic principles.
• One third disclosed their business relationships.

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Conclusion

• More than half of the sites analyzed discussed
  their editorial policies to some degree, however
  several of the criteria that were deemed
  important such as employee conduct and separation
  of content from advertising, were hardly
  mentioned.
• Web-only news sites were more likely to post
  information regarding their editorial policies.
  This may be due to the fact they cannot rely on
  the established reputations of their traditional
  media counterparts.

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Conclusion

• The presence of these credibility statements is
  signaling a change in the way that news is
  reported- journalists are no longer acting as
  gatekeepers and deciding what the public should
  read, rather they are working to help people make
  sense of the plethora of information that is
  available to them.