Perceived credibility of local news in the Maltese media

Abstract

Triggered by the international decline of the public's trust in the media, this study attempted to shed light, for the first time, on the way the Maltese perceive local media in terms of credibility as regards local news. Data about this theme were gleaned from the four daily newspapers - The Times, The Malta Independent, In-Nazzjon and L-Orizzont- and from the television news bulletins on TVM News, Net News and ONE News - through a mail administered questionnaire. Among other things, respondents were asked to rate each of the above mentioned media as regards their (the respondents) evaluation of local news on a five-point semantic differential scale containing 14 items. Respondents were also asked which medium, from newspapers, television, radio and internet, they followed and believed most. Results suggest that respondents rated their preferred medium, which is the medium they followed mostly, as the most credible on a between-media level. However, when looking within media, results were not as clear-cut. The study also confirmed the existence of a relationship between readership/viewership and credibility. Moreover, in line with past research, a factor analysis established that the perceived construct credibility is made up of three dimensions that were labelled Trustworthiness, Wisdom and Competence.