Trust in Online Journalism

Abstract

While a multitude of polls indicate that trust in all forms of journalism is low in Western societies, the problem with trust seems to be especially prevalent in the context of online journalism. At the same time, more and more people are turning to online journalism in today’s digital age, and hence trust in online journalism is increasingly important. To assess the difference in offline and online trust, this paper develops a conceptual model of trust in online journalism that illustrates how the developments in journalism reflecting digitization impact on trust. While some developments enhance and others impede trust in the online context, the overall impact is negative. Results from a propositional inventory support the model. Ultimately, this paper contributes to a better understanding of trust in online journalism and outlines future avenues for research based on the proposed model as a heuristic.

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