Effects of Familiarity with Local and Foreign News Sources

·neutral, non-skeptic view of unknown sources
·decrease in trust in known news outlets

Causes of the Impact of Unknown or Unfamiliar Sources

Unknown or unfamiliar news sources have the possibilities of producing biased stories or misinformation (Guess, Nyhan, and Reifler 2020; Lazer et al. 2018). 

New York University

Creation of online news outlets has few perquisites, resulting in the abundance of available online news sources to the general public (Hindman 2008; Metzger et al. 2003; Munger 2020; Pennycook and Rand 2019; Van Aelst et al. 2017). 

Online News Outlets

It's difficult to trace misinformation back to their original source. Sources of fake news tend to be hyperpartisan and far-right (pro-Trump during the 2016 U.S. election). This notion is supported that even in mainstream, left-wing journalists tend to follow journalistic guidelines and codes more than right-wing journalists. In the past years, automated bots have much contributed to the spread of misinformation. It has been found than certain social media sites such as Facebook are better for spreading fake news than others such as twitter. 

Supply of Misinformation

PETERSON, E., & ALLAMONG, M. (2022). The Influence of Unknown Media on Public Opinion: Evidence from Local and Foreign News Sources. American Political Science Review, 116(2), 719-733. doi:10.1017/S0003055421001234

The Influence of Unknown Media on Public Opinion: Evidence from Local and Foreign News Sources

Types of News Outlets

Unknown/Unfamiliar Online News Sources

During a crisis, social media is used to spread information. Anyone can take part in the spreading of information which can be bad. Trust during a crisis is important and if individuals' social media posts are not regulated or fact-checked like those belonging to an organization or agency misinformation spreads. Rumor's and misinformation can cause panic and lead to resources being spent on false leads.

Social Media is Unregulated: Double-edge Sword 

- The Problem of Social Media Companies Business Practices with Misinformation
- How to solve the problem of social media companies encouraging misinformation

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