News Consumer Perceptions of New Journalistic Sourcing Techniques

This study examines how news consumers evaluate the use of digital sources in the journalistic news production process. It also assesses to what extent credibility judgments depend on whether consumers learn that journalists have visibly verified the information they have obtained from a certain source. Using a scenario study, we found that scenarios picturing online sourcing techniques, such as using information from Twitter and Facebook, are perceived as non-credible. This negative judgment is not mitigated by visible verification.