U. of I. journalism Stephanie Craft has focused much of her recent work on news media literacy, trying to understand what people know about the news media and how it works, and how that influences attitudes about politics and civic engagement. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The more you know about the news media and how it works, the less likely you are to believe conspiracy theories - even ones you might find politically tempting. That's the conclusion University of Illinois journalism professor Stephanie Craft and her research colleagues reached in a study being published next month in the journal Communication and the Public. The researchers surveyed nearly 400 participants online in spring 2016 to gauge how their news media literacy - measured as a combination of news media knowledge and psychological traits connected with processing news messages - might relate to their endorsement of conspiracy theories. The researchers found that "individuals who give credence to conspiracy theories know comparatively little about how the news media work." They also found that "the greater one's knowledge about the news media - from the kinds of news covered, to the commercial context in which news is produced, to the effects on public opinion news can have - the less likely one will fall prey to conspiracy theories." Craft believes their research is the first to make that connection. But what Craft found even more interesting, and encouraging, were findings that showed it applied even where conspiracy theories resonated with an individual's political beliefs. The study asked participants about the strength of their belief in any of 10 conspiracy theories, split evenly between those associated with liberal and conservative perspectives.
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