Distrustful news readers can be reached, research shows

A new study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University chronicles how distrustful consumers of news can be reached. The short answer: Hurry!

The study, called ‘Snap Judgements: How audiences who lack trust in news navigate information on digital platforms’ looks at how individuals in Brazil, India, the United Kingdom and the United States uses Facebook, WhatsApp and Google in their everyday experiences. The study found that this type of reader often relied on ‘cues’ for making quick, in-the-moment judgements.

The report also identified how those readers who lack trust in most news, or who lack knowledge of journalistic standards, may be more likely to make judgments based on the use of photos or the number of likes on a post.