Journal article

User Perceptions of News Recommender Systems and Trust in Media Outlets: A Five-Country Study

BP2-STS

  • Blassnig, Sina ORCID Institute for Digital Communication and Media Innovation, University of Fribourg (CH), Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Mitova, Eliza ORCID Department of Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Strikovic, Edina ORCID Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Urman, Aleksandra ORCID Department of Informatics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • de Vreese, Claes ORCID Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Hannák, Anikó ORCID Department of Informatics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Esser, Frank ORCID Department of Communication and Media Research, University of Fribourg (CH), Fribourg, Switzerland
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  • 2024
Published in:
  • Journalism Studies. - 2024, p. 1-23
English The study investigates user perceptions of news media’s employment of news recommender systems (NRS) and their relation to trust in media outlets. A cross-sectional survey (n = 5079) in the United Kingdom, United States, Poland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland shows that higher algorithmic knowledge, users’ perceived skills, and news aggregator use correspond to increased perceptions that news media use NRS. Moreover, higher perceived NRS use of specific news outlets is associated with lower trust in those outlets but perceived benefits and concerns related to NRS moderate this relationship. Our findings highlight the need for media organizations to ensure a responsible and transparent use of such systems, highlight benefits for users, and address concerns to avoid misperceptions of their NRS use and maintain user trust.
Faculty
Faculté des sciences économiques et sociales et du management
Department
Institut pour la communication numérique et l'innovation des médias
Language
  • English
License
CC BY
Open access status
green
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/329048
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