What determines the legitimacy of different news sources?
This is a proposed 2-part project. The first part, a survey, will ask respondents about trustworthiness of different example news sources online, within the topic of housing in Seattle (we will pick a real, current example such as debates about zoning laws or the immigration of tech workers into the city). Part 2, a 1-2 year series of ethnographic interviews exploring how informants get information about housing issues in Seattle. That is to say, ballot initiatives, proposed laws, changes in demographics that affect prices, etc.
Key questions:
- How and why do people trust certain sources?
- Are there understudied sources of digital information flow that merit further study?