Exploring the use of constructive journalism to combat misinformation in the mainstream media

Abstract

Misinformation in the news presents a challenge to democracy’s need for a well-informed citizenry and can carry severe personal and societal consequences. In addition to the ease of information sharing on social media, belief in misinformation is facilitated by various social, structural, and psychological factors, many of which are both mitigated and exacerbated by news media. I investigate the role of news media in the context of misinformation and its spread from a psychological perspective, with a particular focus on constructive journalism, an approach that draws on positive and cognitive psychology to reduce the mental health burden and increase the accuracy of reporting, as a potential response to assuage the negative consequences of news media in the context of misinformation and COVID-19. The thesis consists of four studies where I use several methodologies to explore the boundaries of constructive journalism and the problem of misinformation in the news. An initial survey study investigated the relationship of information consumption to protective behaviours throughout COVID-19 using Bayesian structural equation modelling, through the mediators of anxiety, risk perception, and belief in misinformation among Australian (N = 201) and United States (N = 306) participants. Information consumption was associated with increased protective behaviours, a relationship partially mediated by increases in anxiety and risk perception, while belief in misinformation was associated with decreased protective behaviours in the United States sample. I also conducted semi-structured interviews with an international sample of journalism professionals to investigate the potential benefits and use of constructive journalism in the context of COVID-19 (N = 11), and misinformation (N = 16). Using thematic analysis, I generated two themes and six subthemes concerning the capacity of constructive journalism to assist in reporting on COVID-19, including educating the public without inspiring undue fear and encouraging constructive responses to the pandemic. I generated three themes and six subthemes regarding constructive journalism’s potential benefit concerning misinformation, including audience engagement, democratic conversation and ideas of truth, and news media’s effects on trust and beliefs. The final study consisted of a randomised-controlled repeated-measures experiment (N = 238), investigating the effect of constructive techniques on mood, comprehension, and trust using five articles adapted from existing constructive journalism pieces. Consistent with previous studies, participants in the Constructive Condition reported higher positive mood and lower negative mood relative to the Control group. However, participants in the Constructive Condition also performed worse on the comprehension measure and reported no differences in trust until accounting for mood and interest, at which point they reported a decrease in trust. I investigate constructive journalism techniques – including inclusiveness and diversity, future orientation, and context – as potential mitigators of the belief and spread of misinformation by probing their effects on trust and comprehension. To foreshadow my conclusions, I find constructive journalism a promising way creators of news media (i.e., journalists) can influence individual and social cognition, beliefs in misinformation, and misinformation sharing. I also make several suggestions for further empirical and theoretical development.