Trust and trustworthy sourcing in Finnish online journalism. Divergences in audience expectations and journalists' practices

Abstract

Trust and trustworthiness are crucial components in human social life, and so too in journalism. Trust facilitates reciprocal relationships, such as those between journalists and their sources, or journalists and their audiences. Trustworthiness, being worthy of trust, stabilizes those relationships: unearned trust is at constant risk of collapse. Whether or not journalism is trustworthy is therefore an important consideration −and the main research problem of this thesis. In line with the literature on trust, I have operationalized trustworthiness as the fulfilment of expectations. To measure it, I have conducted research into both audience expectations and journalistic practices. The specific context of this study is mainstream Finnish online journalism and the expectations young Finnish adults (ages 18-28 years) have for it. Online journalists’ practices were investigated through newsroom ethnog-raphy. I observed the work of 21 online journalists from 7 Finnish mainstream newsrooms. This sample, gathered in 2013 and 2017 comprises the production processes of over 100 journalistic items. I probed audience expectations to-wards these practices through experimental focus group interviews. Finally, I focused on a key journalistic process that is largely hidden from audiences’ view: sourcing. Young adult Finns’ general expectations for online journalism are re-markably conventional: journalism should be dispassionate, impartial, accurate, responsible, comprehensive and easy to understand. The work of Finnish online journalists barely accommodates these demands; it is fast-paced and desk-bound. The sourcing practices I observed were mostly in conflict with the audi-ence’s expectations. Specifically, the information in over half of the observed news items was unverified; much of their content was copied from already-published media; and journalists rarely attempted to reach out to more than one source. Practice aligned with expectations in just one regard: observed news items mostly relied on highly credible sources. In summary, the sourcing practices behind mainstream Finnish online journalism are not trustworthy to young adult Finns. The situation is worri-some, as the traditionally high trust Finns exhibit towards mainstream news media is liable to implode if untrustworthy practices are revealed to audiences.