Partisans and Controversial News Online: Comparing Perceptions of Bias and Credibility in News Content From Blogs and Mainstream Media |
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| Authors: | Mihee Kim |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Journalism &2. Mass Communication Kookmin University , Korea mhkim2008@gmail.com |
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| Abstract: | Based on the hostile media effect (HME), this 2 (partisan opinion) × 2 (news source) × 2 (content valence) factorial experiment investigated how partisans (N = 132), in terms of perceived bias and credibility, assess same-sex marriage coverage by either an online mainstream news source or a citizen blog. Partisans who disagreed with the content's valence evaluated both mainstream online news and the blog posting as more biased and less credible than did partisans who agreed with the content's valence. The perceived reach of blog postings appears to generate a relative HME similar to that triggered by mainstream news. In particular, this study suggests that user-generated content—specifically blog postings—might generate a stronger relative HME than that observed with mainstream news. |
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