The United States is a multilingual country, in total, 380 languages are spoken, with 13% of the population speaking Spanish at home (United States Census Bureau, 2015). Among the Hispanics, near 50% use Spanish-language media to learn about current events (Watson, 2019 ). Therefore, there is a growing segment of the population that is consuming news media in both English and Spanish. When people can choose not only between types of media but between languages, what influences that decision? Previous research has found cultural and educational motivations (Soruco & Juliet, 2010). But there is still little information about the role that language plays in the building of trust among news consumers fluent in more than one language.
The question of trust is a crucial one in our historical context, as currently, a large percentage of Americans have lost trust in the news media (Brenan, 2019 ). Trust is a concept that has escaped conceptual definition in media research, frequently used in place of media believability of news organizations, the credibility of news media, or trust in news media as an institution. However, trust can also be understood as a multidimensional concept, dealing with issues of risk and risk reduction in the face of uncertainty (Pjesivac, Spasovska, & Imre, 2016). Using twenty semi-structured, in-depth interviews of American adults who are comfortable and fluent in both Spanish and English, this project seeks to explore the role of news source langue on perceived accuracy, objectiveness, and general trustworthiness of news. Specifically, this research seeks to find out:
RQ1: How do bilingual Americans define “trust” in the context of journalism and news media?
RQ2: What are the criteria used by participants to measure the trustworthiness of a news source?
RQ3: What role does language play in participants’ trust judgments of news sources?
RQ3a: What role does language play in participants' credibility judgments of news sources?
The results of this study will be used to inform the creation of a questionnaire seeking to explore the way different Americans think about the news, journalism, and journalists.
References
Brenan, M. (2019 , September 26 ). Americans' Trust in Mass Media Edges Down to 41% . Retrieved from Gallup: https://news.gallup.com/poll/267047/americans-trust-mass-media-edges-dow...
Pjesivac, I., Spasovska, K., & Imre, I. (2016). The Truth Between the Lines: Conceptualization of Trust in News Media in Serbia, Macedonia, and Croatia. Mass Communication and Society, 19, 323–351. doi:10.1080/15205436.2015.1128548
Soruco , G., & Juliet, P. (2010). Mass Media Use Among South Florida Hispanics: An Intercultural Typology . The Florida Communication Journal , 38(2), 77–85.
United States Census Bureau. (2015). Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2009-2013. U.S. Deparment of Commerce. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/2009-2013-lang-tables.html
Watson, A. (2019 ). News sources among Hispanics in the United States in 2017. Retrieved from Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/263484/news-sources-among-hispanics-...