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ABSTRACT
This research investigated online news consumption and public trust in online news sources in China. It aims to understand the dynamic relationship between media use and media trust in China, with a contrast between official media and social media. In this study, we measured the frequency of use and credibility of 50 online news sources categorized into five groups and two social media platforms, WeChat/Weibo, with a survey (N = 585). The results indicated people used and trusted each online news source group differently. Social media were used most often and the reliance on official media was less. Habitual use of social media enhanced its credibility; however, official media were trusted the most, followed by news portals. This study advances the literature by identifying the online news consumption pattern in China and examining the public trust in online news sources where the government's control of media extends online. This study reveals how the public perceives the legitimacy of the state via official information systems and how technologically-driven media transformations have produced vibrations among the public. The findings also provide important implications for practitioners to understand the trust structure of online news media and conduct targeted regulation.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Ethical Standards
The study has been reviewed and approved by the Ethical Board of USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Data Availability Statement
We promise that the data is available when required and permission to reproduce material from other sources.
Notes
1 Tencent Questionnaire is a service provided by Tencent Group. It has the ability to reach participants across the country, which adds to its appeal to scholars who are interested in obtaining a nationwide sample.
2 Participants in the two rounds did not differ significantly by age, gender, or political affiliation. The first round was meant to pretest the questionnaire. And we added WeChat and Weibo question in the second round.
3 According to the State Council, there are 5 categories of city based on population: megacities (over 10 million people), metropolis (5–10 million people), large cities (1–5 million people), medium-sized city (0.5–1 million people) and small town (below 0.5 million people).
4 Democratic Party members here refer to members of all major democratic parties in China.
5 Hot search is a function that provides trending topics on Weibo. With a follow function, users can follow other accounts (as followers) and can receive updates of these accounts by feeds.
6 To be mentioned, in Guo’s Citation2007 survey, participants were asked, “Should the Internet be managed or controlled?” The phrasing may not reflect actual Internet censorship.