Evaluating, Fact-Checking and Detecting Misinformation: How Headline Slant and Source Influence Truth Perceptions and Verification

• In Event: Understanding the Spread and Detection of Misinformation

Abstract

This study systematically investigates how U.S. adults evaluate and verify information in the modern high-choice media environment. Inspired by recent shifts across the news media landscape, we explore the extent to which three headline factors—slant, source, and accuracy — shape how different ideological groups assess news headlines and verify information. Guided by the literature on motivated reasoning, we focus on the interplay between contextual cues and the biased processing that ideological groups are prone to. Using an experimental design with a national sample of adults, we investigate how liberals, conservatives, and moderates: a) evaluate the truthfulness of headlines, b) decide to verify headline claims by using various fact-checking mechanisms, and c) detect misinformation in a headline. Results provide strong support for motivated reasoning, particularly among liberals, in how they evaluate, when they are willing to verify, and when they are able to detect misinformation.

Authors

• Stephanie Edgerly, Northwestern U

• Esther Thorson, Michigan State U - Department of Communication

• Samuel Matthias Tham, Michigan State U

• Rachel R Mourao, Michigan State U