Subjectivity in media source perception: Fox News versus NPR

• Main Author: SHIM, KyuJin
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Media credibility; Media bias; Quality Journalism; Q method; Third person perception; Hostile media; Fox News; NPR; Business and Corporate Communications; Mass Communication; Social Influence and Political Communication
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research_all/10
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The purpose of this study is to explore the link between political affinity and source credibility perception through the cases of Fox News and NPR. Based on third-person perception framework, this study combines the Q methodology, and focus group interviews to investigate the interaction of audience and source in shaping the credibility of a media source. Results confirmed third-person perception in that audiences tend to perceive a politically aligned news channel as being trustworthy, but fails to attain the social impact it deserves. In contrast, audiences perceive a hostile news channel as having social impact although not being trustworthy.