https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/1275 Thu, 10 Sep 2026 04:48:35 GMT 2026-09-10T04:48:35Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/5563 The Tragedy of Errors: Political Ideology, Perceived Journalistic Quality, and Media Trust Wilner, Tamar; Wallace, Ryan; Lacasa-Mas, Ivan; Goldstein, Emily Media trust is at near-record lows, arguably lowering news consumption, threatening the viability of journalism, and increasing citizen polarization. In examining the causes of low media trust, researchers often look at intrinsic audience factors rather than audience perceptions of journalism-in particular, documenting media trust's strong inverse correlation with conservatism, but seldom investigating trust's relationship with perceptions of journalistic quality. The quality connection is worth investigating because studies have found that journalistic errors are common, and such inaccuracies are also widely perceived. This study asked which has a stronger impact on media trust, audience ideologies or perceived journalistic errors. Using a survey of 1026 U.S. adults, the study found an inverse relationship between error perceptions and trust levels. The most frequently perceived errors were sensationalized or understated stories and stories missing essential information. Three types of errors and both social and economic conservatism were found to have statistically significant, negative relationships with trust, while a fourth error type-misspellings-had a positive relationship. The two ideological factors had a slightly stronger media trust impact than the collective error types. Nonetheless, perception of errors accounted for significant variation in trust levels. These results bolster the imperative for rigorous reporting and editing. Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/5563 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/5562 Antecedents and consequences of Americans' COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: a focus on support for trump, populism, institutional trust, media consumption, and mask-wearing attitudes Lee, Taeyoung; Santillana, Melissa; Lacasa-Mas, Ivan; Ashe, Ivy During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been growing concerns about conspiracy theories across the globe. Especially in the United States, conspiratorial narratives have been promoted by political figures and moved to public discourse from the fringe, shaping public opinion and hampering preventive measures. This study examines a host of political and communicative factors that might contribute to Americans' belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories and how such belief is associated with attitudes toward mask-wearing. Findings from a U.S. national two-wave panel survey showed that support for Donald Trump was the strongest predictor of conspiracy beliefs. Populism, trust in scientific institutions, conservative media use, and social media use predicted such beliefs as well. We also found a negative relationship between conspiracy beliefs and mask-wearing attitudes, suggesting that conspiracy beliefs might threaten public health by hindering preventive behavior. The implications of these findings are discussed. This work was supported by the Good Systems Grand Challenge Research effort at The University of Texas at Austin. Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/5562 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/5561 How social media users become misinformed: The roles of news-finds-me perception and misinformation exposure in COVID-19 misperception Lee, Taeyoung; Johnson, Thomas; Chenyan, Jia; Lacasa-Mas, Ivan This study explores the role of the news-finds-me (NFM) perception—the belief that people can be well-informed without actively seeking news due to their social networks—in fostering social media users’ inaccurate beliefs about COVID-19. Findings from a US national survey (N = 1003) suggest that NFM perception is positively associated with belief in COVID-19 misinformation and mediates the positive relationship between social media use and false beliefs when NFM is measured as a single-dimensional construct. However, the sub-dimensions of NFM have distinct implications: The reliance on peers and not seeking but feeling informed dimensions work in the same manner as when NFM is treated as a single-dimensional construct, whereas reliance on algorithmic news negatively predicts belief in misinformation and negatively mediates the aforementioned relationship. We also found the mediating role of exposure to misinformation in the relationship between social media use and false beliefs. Implications from these findings are discussed. This study is a project of UT Austin's Digital Media Research Program. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/5561 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/5560 The Dynamics of Misinformation Sharing: The Mediated Role of News-Finds-Me Perception and the Moderated Role of Partisan Social Identity Yoo, Joseph Jai-sung; Johnson, Thomas J.; Lacasa-Mas, Ivan The spread of misinformation on social media could pose a significant risk to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Users with a high news-finds-me perception (NFMP) can be especially vulnerable to misinformation because they believe themselves to be well-informed. This belief, paradoxically, can result in them being less informed and consequently increase the likelihood of them sharing misinformation. This association can be further intensified among individuals with a strong political identity. To explore the dynamics of misinformation sharing and the impact of NFMP, we employed structural equation modeling, drawing on a survey of U.S. adults. The result of serial mediation analysis suggested a direct association between social media usage and misinformation sharing and an indirect association through NFMP and susceptibility to COVID-19 misinformation. Moreover, this serial mediation model was moderated by partisan social identity. These findings expand the research on NFMP by highlighting its role in contributing to beliefs in misinformation and its sharing, particularly emphasizing NFMP as a low-effort information consumption behavior. Our results showed that even liberals, typically opposed to COVID-19 skepticism, could be vulnerable to COVID-19 misinformation. Our study underscores the importance of cognitive involvement in processing information on social media. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/5560 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z