نبذه عن الكتاب: To varying degrees online news sources are considered less credible than the traditional media (Banning and Sweester 2007, 458). Banning and Sweester’s study showed newspapers were considered the most accurate medium compared to television, radio and online news (458). The use of traditional journalism methods, such as the editing standards, if used in online writing can help to narrow the gap in credibility (458). There is a perception that online news sites publish quickly without stringent editing standards (458). The Banning and Sweester survey included 145 undergraduate students at a larger southern university who received extra credit for participation (457). The research questions were to determine if information has a greater impact if it appeared in a personal blog or a well-known newspaper (457). The students were shown a story and instructed to provide their opinion on the following statements “1. the story I just read is factual; 2. the story I just read is concerned about making profits; 3. the story I just read invades people’s privacy; 4. the story I just read is concerned about the community’s well being; 5. the story I just read cannot be trusted” (457-458). Media credibility was then measured using a nine-point Likert scale that ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree (458). This study showed no statistical differences between newspapers, online news or personal blogs in terms of the credibility ratings, but stated the small sample size may have contributed to the lack of statistically significant agreement (458).