Judging the credibility of propagandistic information sources: The case of the Russo-Ukrainian war

Abstract

This study examines how the credibility of information sources with alleged propagandistic elements is assessed in online discussion. More specifically, the investigation is focused on the credibility of information sources dealing with a politically sensitive issue, that is, the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. To this end, a sample of 1024 messages posted to Quora discussion groups was scrutinised by means of qualitative content analysis. The findings indicate that overall, the credibility judgements were highly critical. While assessing the credibility of authors generating information sources suspected of propagandistic elements, the most important criteria are the author’s fairness in the interpretation in an issue, his or her honesty in argumentation and the authors’ expertise. In the judgement of the credibility of the source’s information, trustworthiness and impartiality are particularly important. The findings highlight the prevalence of distrust in propagandistic information sources and more generally reflect media scepticism characteristic of the post-truth era.