Is Fox 59 more believable than Fox News? : comparing believability for local and national television news

There is a lack of research in regard to believability between local and national television news networks. However, this will be among the first studies that compared the believability between local and national television news in the United States. Hence, this study analyzed why people choose to believe the news they believe. The method consisted of experimentally manipulating the local and national news source using six conditions based on three news outlets (Fox59, WISH-TV, Fox News) and each participant was exposed to either a political or non-political news story. The results provided evidence of support for propositions that Fox59 is more believable than Fox News, and WISH-TV is more believable than Fox59. This demonstrated participants believe a news story to a higher extent when it is attributed to a local news outlet rather than a national news media outlet based on perceptions and story content. This research will impact the journalism field by giving journalists and news consumers a clear and better understanding of why some see their work as inaccurate or unfair