A News Ecology Perspective to Information Verification: Examining the Effects of News Repertoire and News Capital

There is a growing concern about the spread of misinformation on the internet. One of the key solutions to address this challenge is the practice of information verification by individuals. Current research on information verification tends to overlook the influence from individuals’ information and social environment. Informed by the media repertoire and the egocentric network approach, this study proposes to examine one’s news repertoire and news discussion networks as critical correlates with verification beliefs and behavior. A survey with a nationally representative sample in the United States ( N = 1,088) revealed that a rich news repertoire and a higher level of news capital embedded in news discussion networks are positively associated with one’s perceptions of self-efficacy and actual engagement in information verification. In addition, the study uncovers the moderating role of news capital in magnifying the positive linkage between news repertoire richness and verification self-efficacy as well as the indirect pathway linking news repertoire richness to verification behavior via verification self-efficacy. Overall, our study offers a news ecology perspective that expands scholarly understanding and theorization of information verification.