Almost as unbelievable as fake news – even if Medium is considered honest
News media that are perceived by audiences to be biased are similarly distrusted as media that the audience believes is spreading fake news. Even if these news sources appear transparent and honest, it damages their reputation if they appear biased. This is the result of a study by Ohio State University .
“If a medium wants to be considered a credible source, it must be honest, but also objective and knowledgeable,”
explains study author Laura Wallace.
Bias damages credibility
The researchers used 169 students as test subjects for the study. They gave them a text to read that contained a dialogue between two aid workers discussing the distribution of resources at the start of an Ebola outbreak in Congo.
The two fictional characters must decide whether to send resources to the Rutu region, where the outbreak began, or to the town of Poko, which is already affected by the outbreak. Both characters were described to the test subjects as extremely experienced. One of them, Roger, is in favor of sending help to Rutu.
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Some study participants were told that Roger had worked as a volunteer in the Rutu region in the past, which would imply that he is biased. The other subjects did not receive this information. Finally, the participants had to rate the conversation in a questionnaire.
It turned out that Roger was untrustworthy to those who knew about his connection to the Rutu region, even if they found him capable, likeable and otherwise trustworthy.
Partisan media more useful than fake news
According to the researchers, there are differences between bias and dishonesty.
“In the case of a biased but honest source, their information may only support one side of a discussion, but is at least useful for understanding that side. Dishonest news may not be that useful,”
says Wallace.
Another difference can be seen in the results of another, as yet unpublished study: changing a position in biased media has a positive effect on its credibility. With a dishonest source, however, this has no effect at all.
“When a biased but honest source changes their opinion, it must be because of strong and important evidence to the audience. “That’s why they trust a change of heart like this more than if it comes from an unreliable medium,”
said Wallace.
Source: press release
Article image: Shutterstock / From Rawpixel.com
Notes:
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