The Electoral Misinformation Nexus: How News Consumption, Platform Use, and Trust in News Influence Belief in Electoral Misinformation-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

The Electoral Misinformation Nexus: How News Consumption, Platform Use, and Trust in News Influence Belief in Electoral Misinformation

Published:2024 Issue:SI Volume:88 Page:681-707
ISSN:0033-362X
Container-title:Public Opinion Quarterly
language:en
Short-container-title:

Author:

Mont’Alverne Camila¹^ORCID,Arguedas Amy Ross²,Banerjee Sayan³,Toff Benjamin⁴,Fletcher Richard⁵,Nielsen Rasmus Kleis⁶

Affiliation:

1. Lecturer in Journalism, Media, and Communication, University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, UK

2. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford , Oxford, UK

3. Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Texas Tech University , Lubbock, TX, US

4. Assistant Professor, Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN, US

5. Director of Research, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford , Oxford, UK ; and Lead Researcher and Coauthor of the “Reuters Institute Digital News Report,” Oxford, UK

6. Director, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; and Professor, Political Communication, University of Oxford , Oxford, UK

Abstract

Abstract Electoral misinformation, where citizens believe false or misleading claims about the electoral process and electoral institutions—sometimes actively and strategically spread by political actors—is a challenge to public confidence in elections specifically and democracy more broadly. In this article, we analyze a combination of 42 million clicks in links and apps from behavioral tracking data of 2,200 internet users and a four-wave panel survey to investigate how different kinds of online news and media use relate to beliefs in electoral misinformation during a contentious political period—the 2022 Brazilian presidential elections. We find that, controlling for other factors, using news from legacy news media is associated with belief in fewer claims of electoral misinformation over time. We find null or inconsistent effects for using digital-born news media and various digital platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp. Furthermore, we find that trust in news plays a significant role as a moderator. Belief in electoral misinformation, in turn, undermines trust in news. Overall, our findings document the important role of the news media as an institution in curbing electoral misinformation, even as they also underline the precarity of trust in news during contentious political periods.

Funder

Meta Journalism Project

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Link

https://academic.oup.com/poq/article-pdf/88/SI/681/58740401/nfae019.pdf

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