Newspaper readers in the US agree with editors on the basics of what makes good journalism, but they are more apt to want looser rules for online conversations, a new study on news credibility has found. Newspapers highly discourage anonymous remarks, for instance, and editors are more likely than readers to want that principle applied to reader comments online, according to the Online Journalism Credibility Study released Tuesday by the Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) and the Donald W Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri.
The purpose of the study was to examine opinions of the general public as well as newsroom editors regarding the credibility of online local news content, interaction between newsroom and readers, and the attributes that comprise good journalism practice online.
Five hundred interviews were randomly completed with adults 18 years of age or older throughout the United States, as well as 1,251 interviews with newsroom editors of US daily newspapers. The surveys were conducted by RJI's Centre for Advanced Social Research (CASR) at the Missouri's School of Journalism.
Insights revealed by the survey include:
- An overwhelming majority of editors and the public agreed that the local news content online was trustworthy, with editors saying so more significantly than the public, largely due to their professional training and experiences. Nearly 75 per cent of the public users of online local news and 74 per cent of the editors trusted the news organisation's news report online the same as in print or broadcast.
- Both groups agreed that it is important that journalists verify information, get the facts right, and correct mistakes in order to produce good journalism online. They also agreed that it would be beneficial to good journalism online that both journalists and the public share responsibility for accuracy of local news contents on a news site.
- Disagreement was evident between editors and online local news users on whether anonymous postings should be allowed on news websites. The editors voiced a stronger desire than the public for readers to give their real identities in their posts. More than 60 per cent of the editors said it would be harmful to good journalism online to invite users to participate without using their real identities, compared to 45 per cent of the users saying so.
- Similarly, 64 per cent of the editors thought it was a bad idea, and 24 a good idea when asked "do you think it is a good idea or bad idea that a website does not require names?" In comparison, 45 per cent of the public thought it was a good idea, and 40 per cent a bad idea.
- Comparing the trustworthiness of what was online with that of the sponsoring news organization, 74 per cent of the editors and 75 per cent of the public were indifferent. Nearly one fourth of the editors (24 per cent) trusted print newspaper more, compared to 15 per cent of the public.
The study, conducted between August and October 2007, also shows evidence of technological and cultural changes in US daily newsrooms, as 39 per cent of the 1,251 editors reported they were print editors, 19 per cent online editors, and 42 per cent were responsible for both print and online.
