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Influence of media exposure on perceptions of media credibility: The mediating role of political knowledge
Date Issued
2019
Citation
Salaudeen, M., Li, W., & Guo, S. (7-11 Jul 2019). Influence of media exposure on perceptions of media credibility: The mediating role of political knowledge. International Association for Media and Communication Research 2019, Madrid, Spain.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
With the rapid advances in new media technologies, rise of partisan reporting and
rampant presence of fake news, the need to investigate public perceptions of media credibility has
assumed new social relevance and historical urgency. This study examines the extent to which
different patterns of media exposure influence credibility judgment. On the assumption that rational
evaluations are information based, we elaborate the relationship by looking at the mediating role of
current event knowledge. The study is contextualized in Hong Kong where local print media and
their audiences are the main units of observation. Operationally, at the news consumption end, we
construct a scale ranging from non-users through skimpy scanners to avid readers. At the perceptual
end, we separate credibility evaluations into three categories: perceived public interest of the media,
perceived information quality produced by the media, and perceived metropolitan connection of the
newspaper. We propose that regular exposure to newspapers is likely to lead to high knowledge of
current political issues and consequently lead to poor perceptions of newspaper credibility.
Analyses of valid data from a random sample survey of 529 local Hong Kong residents reveal
several interesting findings: 1) There is a significant positive correlation between the frequency of
respondents’ newspaper readership pattern and their level of political knowledge, albeit at a
superficial level, suggesting that regular readers of newspapers in Hong Kong are more conversant
with current events than less frequent readers and non-readers of newspapers. 2) There is a
significant negative correlation between respondents’ level of political knowledge and their
perceptions of newspapers’ credibility along the dimensions of public interest and metropolitan
connection. 3) However, we found a non-significant relationship between respondents’ political
knowledge and their perceptions of newspapers’ information quality. These findings indicate that
respondents with high knowledge of current political issues have poor perceptions about the public
interest and metropolitan connection of newspapers, thereby judging the credibility of newspapers
harshly. Also, we deduce that the more time respondents spend reading newspapers, the more knowledge of local issues they have, as opposed to their limited knowledge of non-local events.
Furthermore, there is no direct relationship between respondents’ level of political knowledge and
the quality of information disseminated by Hong Kong newspapers. Thus, political knowledge
mediated the extent to which respondents evaluated the credibility of newspapers in Hong Kong.
Theoretical and social implications are discussed.
Availability at HKSYU Library
