An examination of how student journalists seek information and evaluate online sources during the newsgathering process

A thorough understanding of how to evaluate website credibility is a crucial tool for journalists. This study examines how journalism students conduct the online newsgathering process and seeks to understand the decisions they make involving credibility assessment. This was accomplished through a triangulated approach involving a content analysis of video recordings of students’ keystrokes during the newsgathering process, coupled with subsequent semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that while journalism students exhibit some level of understanding about the importance of verification, they rely strongly on search engines and trust the credibility of search-engine results.