Prochazka F. & Obermaier, M. (2022). Trust through Transparency? How Journalistic Reactions to Media-Critical User Comments Affect Quality Perceptions and Behavior Intentions. In Digital Journalism, DOI: 10.1080/21670811.2021.2017316
User comments to digital news often contain media criticism, detrimentally affecting how others perceive the quality of news and possibly lowering media trust.
It remains an open question, however, how journalistic reactions can mitigate these effects.
Based on premises of engagement moderation, accountability, and transparency in digital journalism,
we conducted an online experiment investigating how critical user comments and journalistic reactions affect quality perceptions and behavioral intentions towards a news media brand.
Results show that media-critical comments lower perceived brand quality, but only among media cynics, whereby increasing it among media supporters.
Journalists admitting mistakes only enhances perceived brand quality for media cynics, while denying does so for everyone and decreases cynics’ intention to comment negatively.
Lastly, explaining why a mistake was made or not boosts brand quality perceptions overall, suggesting that transparency is a viable strategy for improving media trust in the long run
Fawzi, N. et al. (2021). Concepts, causes and consequences of trust in news media – a
literature review and framework, Annals of the International Communication Association, DOI: 10.1080/23808985.2021.1960181
Research on trust in media is on the rise. However, communication scholars have addressed related concepts (e.g. media credibility) for decades, and these concepts have often been used interchangeably
with that of trust. This practice has resulted in a confusing field of research, with studies using different labels and drawing on various theoretical backgrounds. This article aims to improve conceptual clarity.
On the basis of a literature review, we first propose a broad conceptualization of trust in news media and disentangle it from related concepts. Second, we develop a framework that identifies
individual- and societal-level causes and consequences of trust in various media objects. Third, we review the current state of research on social, political, and media-related correlates of trust.
Klawier, T., Prochazka, F. & Schweiger, W. (2021). Public knowledge of alternative media in times of algorithmically personalized news. New Media & Society, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211021071
Citizens are likely to encounter various types of alternative media online, especially on algorithmically personalized news channels (APNC) like social network sites or search engines. It is unclear, however, to what degree they are aware of these outlets and familiar with the concept of alternative media. This study investigates the relation between exposure to alternative media and knowledge of them, taking the role of APNC into account. Analyzing representative survey data of German Internet users, we find a gap: While many individuals report to use alternative media, few of them are able to name alternative media titles matching scholarly conceptions. Although the use of APNC increases self-reported exposure to alternative media, it does not improve actual knowledge of them. All in all, many Internet users have little awareness of alternative media and do not clearly distinguish between different types of sources they come across online.
Prochazka, F. & Schweiger, W. (2020). Vertrauen in Journalismus in Deutschland: Eine Typologie der Skeptiker: Erwartungen an Medien und die Wahrnehmung ihrer Umsetzung. Media Perspektiven(4), 196–206. https://www.ard-werbung.de/fileadmin/user_upload/media-perspektiven/pdf/2020/0420_Prochazka_Schweiger.pdf
Das Vertrauen in journalistische Angebote und deren Qualitätsmerkmale sind mit Blick auf den digitalen Strukturwandel ein anhaltend relevantes Forschungsfeld. In einem von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) gefördertem Projekt wurden Formen und Ursachen von Vertrauen in den Journalismus untersucht. Im Fokus standen insbesondere diejenigen Bevölkerungsgruppen, die dem Medienangebot skeptisch gegenüberstehen und Zweifel an dessen Qualitätsstandard haben. In einer repräsentativen Onlinebefragung wurden 936 Personen zu ihrem Vertrauen in den Journalismus, den Erwartungen an journalistische Medien, zur Wahrnehmung ihrer Qualität sowie zu ihrer Nachrichtennutzung befragt.
Prochazka, F. (2020). Vertrauen in Journalismus unter Online-Bedingungen: Zum Einfluss von Personenmerkmalen, Qualitätswahrnehmungen und Nachrichtennutzung. Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-30227-6
In diesem Open-Access-Buch geht es um die Frage, welche individuellen Faktoren Vertrauen bzw. Misstrauen in Journalismus erklären. In Teilen der Bevölkerung erodiert das Vertrauen in journalistische Medien. Gleichzeitig verliert der Journalismus seine Rolle als Gatekeeper und tritt in Konkurrenz zu anderen Informationsanbietern im Internet. Fabian Prochazka untersucht theoretisch und empirisch, wie diese beiden Phänomene zusammenhängen. In welchen gesellschaftlichen Milieus ist Vertrauen bzw. Misstrauen in den Journalismus besonders verbreitet und wie hängt es mit Personenmerkmalen zusammen? Welche Qualitätswahrnehmungen und Vorwürfe an den Journalismus stehen hinter einer vertrauensvollen oder misstrauischen Haltung? Beschädigt oder stärkt die gewandelte Informationsumgebung im Internet das Vertrauen in den Journalismus?
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