INFORMATION INTEGRITY AND PUBLIC TRUST IN DIGITAL NEWS PLATFORMS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF ONLINE NEWS CONSUMPTION AND CREDIBILITY

Abstract

With the digitalization in the world, the access to consume information from digital and social media platforms have become cheap and easier. Now every household have smart phones from where they access any sort of information. With cheaper data and smart phone people devote more time on social media platforms as compare to TV or newspapers. However, there are serious concerns about information integrity and public trust in the wake of the widespread dissemination of disinformation, misleading headlines, unreliable sources, and AI-generated content.This research study examines the relationship between public trust in digital news platforms and information integrity.The study focuses on key aspects of information integrity, including information reliability, accuracy, source credibility, verification, transparency, and completeness of context.An empirical survey methodology has been utilized which features a standardized questionnaire comprising a total of eight assertions that have been calculated against a five-point Likert scale.An exemplary sample of 200 respondents was taken into consideration so as to illustrate the analytical framework.The results demonstrate that when it comes to evaluating digital news, respondents place a strong emphasis on source reliability, fact-checking, accuracy, and transparency.Moreover, the study demonstrates that users’ level of trust in digital news platforms as well as their inclination to rely on such platforms for news consumption are strongly correlated with the perceived information integrity.  This research paper concludes with the result that there is need to boost the public trust in the digital ecosystem by encouraging people to verify content, transparency of source and promoting digital media literacy.