Mapping Credibility Scale of Sources of Political News Stories Through Perception Lenses of Pakistani Youth: Analysis of Governmental vs. Non-Governmental and Conflicting Political News Sources

Abstract

Research was designed to evaluate the credibility perception of youth regarding different mainstream and new media sources of political news. This study adopted questionnaire survey method as a research design of the study. The sample was drawn using probability proportional to size (PPS) and random sampling techniques. For the purpose of investigation, 375 respondents from Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan’s approved universities/degree awarding institutions (DAIs) were selected for the purpose of data collection. The findings of the study revealed that in case the respondents are encountered with the conflicting version of political news stories, they considered traditional TV news channels and newspapers as first and second most credible political news sources respectively. Additionally, it was also found that the majority of the youth perceived live streaming of traditional TV news channels and news websites that are associated with the mainstream news sources (traditional TV news channels and newspapers) as first and second most credible online sources of political news respectively. Additionally, this research also found that the majority of the respondents considered non-governmental sources of political news as most credible. Overall, the study concluded that the respondents still perceived traditionally delivered political news as highly credible sources of political news.