Transparency in the News: The Impact of Self-Disclosure and Process Disclosure on the Perceived Credibility of the Journalist, the Story, and the Organization

An experimental study was conducted to see what impact varying the level of self-disclosure by a journalist, as well as providing information about why and how a story is being covered, has on the perceived credibility of the journalist, the story, and the organization for which the journalist works...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journalism studies (London, England) England), 2021-05, Vol.22 (7), p.953-970
Main Authors: Johnson, Kirsten A., St. John III, Burton
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Credibility
journalism
Journalists
News
perceived credibility
reporters
Self disclosure
Transparency
Transparency cues
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Summary:An experimental study was conducted to see what impact varying the level of self-disclosure by a journalist, as well as providing information about why and how a story is being covered, has on the perceived credibility of the journalist, the story, and the organization for which the journalist works. A study was conducted that included 885 participants from the United States. Results indicate the group that saw a picture of the journalist, a low level of disclosure regarding the journalist, and information about why and how the story was being covered rated the journalist, story, and organization highest in terms of perceived credibility. These findings indicate that traditional news organizations, when it comes to building audience credibility, should consider including at least some information about the journalist, and perhaps, more importantly, information about why and how the story is being covered.
ISSN:1461-670X
1469-9699
DOI:10.1080/1461670X.2021.1910542