How is it that some media are trusted and others not?

[suchona.kani.z]

According to recent surveys, there is a mixed picture of what is perceived as fake news:

According to Statista, around a third of Germans come across false information at least once a week. Almost a quarter come across fake news every day or almost every day. On the other hand, a quarter also believe that they are rarely or never confronted with fake news.


With regard to the war in Ukraine, according to a representative bitkom survey, almost three quarters of Germans (72 percent) are concerned about the spread of false information on social media. 57 percent find it difficult to correctly classify information about the war in Ukraine. Only four percent of German citizens consider Russian media to be trustworthy when it comes to the truthfulness of information about the war in Ukraine.


Likewise, without reference to the war in Russia, around 81 percent of guatemala consumer email list​ respondents in the Westdeutscher Rundfunk study "Credibility of the Media" rate public radio stations in Germany as trustworthy. For public television stations, however, the figure is 79 percent. Only seven percent of those surveyed consider social media and networks such as Facebook to be trustworthy.



An interplay of several aspects is important here. Trust in the credibility of individual media is created by external influences, personal beliefs and also by individual experiences.


Even if critical and objective reporting is possible in democracies, this does not mean that it always has to take place. On the contrary, in democracies it is possible to express all opinions and messages as long as they remain within the permitted legal framework.

It seems almost impossible to pick out the news from the incredibly large and daily growing amount of information that is truly true, reputable and based on professional journalistic work. The confusion is therefore greater because the range of information is so rich and seems inscrutable.


So what can be done to distinguish false information from “real” information?
Four aspects help me:

First, the context: I try to understand whether the information presented makes some sense in relation to what I know.
Second, the source: I try to identify where the information comes from or who is spreading it.
Third, the intention: What is the author's goal? Is there a recognizable agenda or does the message appear neutral or objective?
Fourthly, the approach: what forms of expression are used? Serious people tend to package their messages in an equally serious manner. This does not always have to be the case, but I still appreciate articles, posts, contributions and/or comments that use a certain degree of care in spelling and a moderate choice of words.