Trust Parameters in Internet News Platforms

1st Supervisor: Prof. Joachim P. Hasebrook.

2nd Supervisor: Dr. Stephen Marsh

Although interactive user participation features have been widely feasible in the age of Web 2.0, ‘trust’ in Internet news platforms is still a problematic issue. Aspects like “neutrality”, “objectivity” or “validity” of information are still questionable. Unfortunately, researches to assign certain parameters to measure ‘trust’ and information validity in online news platforms have not been done in a large scope until today. Therefore, this study aims adapting a trust-inducing model and cultural attitudes model helping defining parameters of ‘trust’ in terms of: users’ participatory nature of communication and producers’ composition of Internet news platforms. Several online news formats will be analyzed within an empirical study, as an attempt to reflect upon variable ways of presenting the same set of information and to foreshadow future needs to enhance parameters of user-trust in their presentations.