Perceived Credibility of News Media Sources

The purpose of this research is to study the relationship between popular news media sources and individual perceptions of media credibility. Findings in this research show that there is a relationship between media credibility, media habits, and media trust, which affects the choice of media that an individual determines is credible. Using a quasi-experimental survey, information was collected from a representative sample of the U.S. population on their opinions of the credibility of 19 mainstream news media outlets after reading an article about the passage of recreational marijuana laws in Alaska. Analysis of the findings from these experiments indicates that media trust is positively correlated with media credibility; media habits show less stable results. This research finds a trend of different audiences for different news sources, with a split between ‘sophisticated skeptics’ and ‘the less well informed’, as seen in previous research. These results are discussed for their theoretical implications