Do visuals impact credibility of news?

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of visuals on people's perception of news credibility within the contemporary scenario since visuals have become a vital component linked to cognitive processes. The primary hypothesis underlying this research is: Do visuals impact and/or enhance news credibility? Available literature on credibility, visuals, news and audience is discussed in the second chapter of this dissertation. The third chapter focuses on methodology and describes the experiment conducted to test this study's hypothesis. Moreover, it includes the discussion or the sample population and the questionnaire design. The following chapter incorporates the data compiled from this experiment, together with both descriptive and inferential statistics so as to support the discussion. Chapter five concludes with a summary of the discussion within this dissertation, including a number of limitations and a list of recommendations for future studies. This study validates the underlying hypothesis that the inclusion of visuals within news exert a profound impact on the audience's perceived credibility. A significant difference in credibility is reported.