Being my own gatekeeper, how I tell the fake and the real – Fake news perception between typologies and sources

The phenomenal spread of fake news online necessitates further research into fake news perception. We stress human factors in misinformation management. This study extends prior research on fake news and media consumption to examine how people perceive fake news. The objective is to understand how news categories and sources influence individuals' perceptions of fake news. Participants (N = 1008) were randomly allocated to six groups in which they evaluated the believability of news from three categories (misinformation, conspiracy, and correction news) coupled with six online news sources whose background (official media, commercial media, and social media) and expertise level varied (the presence or absence of a professional editorial team). Our findings indicated people could distinguish media sources, which have a significant effect on fake news perception. People believed most in conspiracy news and then misinformation included in correction news, demonstrating the backfire of correction news. The significant interaction effects indicate people are more sensitive to misinformation news and show more skepticism toward misinformation on social media. The findings support news literacy that users are capable to leverage credible sources in navigating online news. Meanwhile, challenges of processing correction news require design measures to promote truth-telling news.