ISOJ 2007

1. A New Credibility:
Identification, Interactivity & Transparency
Brian Carroll & Randy Richardson
Berry College

2. Standing on shoulders
 Hovland, McCroskey
 Johnson & Kaye
 Flanagin & Metzger
 Meyer
 Burke
 Brock, Brommet, Crable, Cohen

3. Traditional dimensions
of credibility
 Expertise
Accuracy
Fairness
Absence of bias

4. New paradigm for credibility
Identification (Burke)
Interactivity
Transparency
Re-voicing of journalism
(The humanity of it all!)

5. Research Questions
 RQ1: Why do readers loyally read their blogs
of choice? What does this say about the
values or qualities of A-list blogs and their
authors that make them credible to their
readers?
 RQ2: Why do blog readers trust the blogs they
read?

6. Pharyngula
http://www.scienceblogs.com/pharyngula

7. Informed Comment
http://www.juancole.com

8. Online Survey
Self-selected
Anonymous
Number of respondents:
Pharyngula: 70
Informed Comment: 222

9. Why do you read Informed Comment?
Expertise >> 107 of 222 respondents
(48%)
NOT mainstream media >> propaganda,
drivel, political spin, distorted reporting
Absence of bias >> 18 mentions
Accuracy >> 15 mentions
Fairness >> 11 mentions

10. Why do you trust Informed Comment?
Expertise >> 91 of 222 responses (41%)
Credentials >> 39 mentions
Fairness >> 37 mentions
Absence of bias >> 17 mentions
Accuracy >> 18 mentions

11. Why do you read Pharyngula?
11 of 70 cited “expertise”
Zeroes for absence of bias, accuracy,
fairness

12. Why do you trust Pharyngula?
26/70 citing “expertise”
Zeroes for other traditional credibility
dimensions
He cites his sources (transparency)

13. Emergent dimensions
of credibility online
Identification: “His politics agree with
mine.” “His judgment echoes my own.”
27 overt mentions of ID for Q1, 18 for
Q2 (Cole)
13 overt Q1, 11 Q2 (Myers)
“common enemy” ID (10 cites of Bush
in Cole; “bastards, bastards”; 20 of 70
for Pharyngula -- 29%)

14. Emergent dimensions
of credibility online -- Identification
Humanity and Authenticity >> 12
mentions (Cole); “re-voicing”
Humor >> 17/70 Pharyngula (24%)
Interactivity: A conversation, not a
lecture. Emails returned. Dining out.

15. Emergent dimensions
of credibility online -- Identification
Transparency: “I was wrong.” “I don’t
know.” “I’ve changed my mind.” “Here
are my sources.” (This all relates to
accountability and objectivity.)
Humanity: “He cares about the Middle
East and has real sympathy for the
people living there.”
Navigability and site design

16. Aristotelian ethos
Back to the future
Good sense (competence, intelligence,
expertise)
Good moral character (honesty,
trustworthiness, fairness)
Goodwill (compassion, humanity)

17. Limitations and Future Research
Inter-coder reliability (& Scott’s Pi)
Systematic factor analytic approach
using emergent criteria across media
Longitudinal research
Locus of the transaction

18. Schemas for media-specific ethos
Legacy Media New(er) Media
Traditional
Smart
Imperative to inform
Infor. as a means to democracy
Market economy
Knowledge capital
Professional (editors)
Top-down, centralized
Filtered, edited content
Fact-checked
Polished, cool, conclusive
Audience as receptors
Mass media messages
Non-interactive
Audience as electorate
High barriers to entry (elitist)
Linear
Positivist
Emergent
Simple
Imperative to empower
Democracy as a means to knowledge
Gift economy
Social capital
Amateur (readers are editors)
Edges-in, de-centralized
Unfiltered, unedited content
Transparent
In-process, engaged, non-conclusive
Audience as participants
Microcontent
Interactive, hyperlinked, hypermediated
Audience as activists
Low barriers to entry (egalitarian)
Networked
Post-modern