Study finds people more cynical toward news more likely to believe misinformation

LAWRENCE — In an age of rampant misinformation, media literacy and a sense of healthy skepticism are often viewed as ways of combating the problem. New research from the University of Kansas examines the concept of news skepticism, how it differs from news cynicism and trust and how it can be a part of countering misinformation.

A new study surveyed more than 1,000 people to gauge their levels of news knowledge as part of their media literacy. It also examined their levels of news skepticism, trust and cynicism as well as their likelihood to believe misinformation about COVID-19 and politics. Researchers found that individuals with greater news knowledge had higher news skepticism but lower news cynicism. Those with higher levels of news cynicism were more likely to believe misinformation.

Tamar Wilner, assistant professor of journalism & mass communications at KU, was co-author of the study. Wilner’s research examines media literacy, how it is developed and how it intersects with individual’s susceptibility to misinformation. Research has suggested that media literacy can be an effective way to counter misinformation. She and co-authors examined how the information ecosystem and concepts like news skepticism influence such literacy.

“I think a problem is a lot of the time things that appear to be newslike, that people imbue with the quality of news and place some trust in, are not actually news. We include in that definition things people come across on social media and by word of mouth,” Wilner said. “Generally, the whole information environment that communicates information about current events.”

For the study, researchers measured respondents’ levels of news trust by asking how much they agree with statements such as “the media are fair and unbiased” or “media separate fact from fiction.” For the concepts of news skepticism, statements included “I think about a news source before I believe” what is reported, and for cynicism, “I think media institutions tell lies” or “are mouthpieces for those in power.”

They also measured peoples’ tendency to believe misinformation by asking a series of true or false questions with statements about both COVID-19 and political news from the time research was conducted in 2022. Finally, they measured news knowledge with a series of questions about how media functions, including whether people thought journalists were required to be licensed.

Among the most prominent findings were those related to news cynicism. The concept was positively associated with misinformation belief, suggesting people who doubt most forms of media’s truthfulness or ability to share true information are more vulnerable to misinformation.

“I think this association suggests we should be very careful about how we talk about the motivations of the news media so we don’t make people so jaded they have a tendency to reject what the media says,” Wilner said. “It suggest it could be important that in news literacy education we talk about what the news media does right and why it’s important in a functioning democracy, and why it’s the best method we have of generating and conveying certain information, and keeping people from dropping down that skepticism scale to where they just don’t believe the media at all.”

The study, co-written with Gyo Hyun Koo of Howard University and Cameron McCann of the University of Texas, was published in the journal Mass Communications and Society. It was supported by the Good Systems Grand Challenge Research effort at the University of Texas.

Results showed that individuals with higher news knowledge tended to have higher news skepticism and lower cynicism. While a healthy level of skepticism can be a good thing, there was not a significant relationship between the concept and misinformation beliefs.

“This could leave us with a disquieting solution: Skepticism simply isn’t the misinformation-fighting tool many believe it to be,” the authors wrote.

Those results, combined with findings on news cynicism, show efforts to combat news cynicism might be one of the most effective ways to fight misinformation and that the concept should be considered in both media literacy education and media research. 

Similarly, high levels of media trust were positively associated with misinformation belief, which is counter to some previous research findings.

“I think there is a widespread conception, maybe by some journalism researchers, definitely by people working in journalism, that news trust is great; we should maximize news trust. I think I’m part of a small group pushing back to say, ‘Trust is a double-edged sword,’” Wilner said. “Even the outlets that are good and doing reliable work most of the time, you can’t trust them 100%. They make mistakes, some of which can be very hurtful and impactful, so we wanted to discuss that, and we thought it was important to talk about cynicism, because there is research to show that news literacy can actually increase cynicism.”

In future research, Wilner said she hopes to further explore the concept of news skepticism and its role in media literacy, including a scale of six components of such skepticism.