Citizen journalism practices during COVID-19 in spotlight: influence of user-generated contents about economic policies in perceiving government performance

Abstract

Purpose Citizen journalism practices through social networking sites are increasingly becoming an imperative source of public opinion formation. Given the increase in the volume of information sharing on social media during COVID-19, this study aims to grasp the largely unknown interaction of the individual’s trust in citizen journalism practices and public perception formulation. Drawing on this idea, the study has twofold objectives: first, to examine the influence of user-generated information about economic policies of government during COVID-19 as the antecedent of public perception about government performance and second, to identify the moderating role of trust in citizen journalism practices during COVID-19 through social networking sites. Design/methodology/approach The study used a survey method and a sample of 464 adults were collected through an online administrated questionnaire. Findings The findings specify that user-generated content that is pro-government economic policies during COVID-19 positively influenced the perception of government performance. On the other hand, user-generated information that criticized government economic policies had a negative influence on public perception. Originality/value This study seeks to intensify the understudied phenomenon of how nature and source of the information could interact to influence one’s information processing during a crisis such as pandemic COVID-19. Furthermore, only a little research has been conducted in this area focusing on two mechanisms, namely; citizen journalism and trust in social media user-generated information about prevailing economic insecurities during crisis provided through citizen journalism.

Understanding media empowerment: citizen journalism in Palestine

“…With the rise of using social media and internet sources as news outlets (Raza et al, 2021 ), the current research aims to investigate how citizen journalists as gatekeepers interpret and perceive key concepts of journalistic work such as ethics, objectivity, gatekeeping, verification, information accessibility, and accuracy. Through a rigorous review of the literature on the subject, this study addresses the gap of Palestine as the location as well as the need for a better understanding of professional and nonprofessional practices related to this context.…”

“…In this respect, citizens carry the role of a journalist amid an event, crisis, or social and political occurrences. This has been increasing over the past years with a significant rise after the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic (Raza et al, 2021 ). In other words, this refers to situations, where citizens make news using their phones and share it on social media (e.g.…”

“…This has become more prevalent due to the decreased level of trust in the mainstream media and that of official governmental outlets (Allan and Thorsen, 2009 ). It has been also noted that citizens with lower trust can be engaged with media and news through citizen journalism (Raza et al, 2021 ; Saragih and Harahap, 2020 ). In contrast, the credibility, and standards of such news have been under question and subject to criticism widely across the world.…”

“…Regarding credibility and trust, there are important factors that can influence the perception of the audience such as source, content, and medium (Vraga et al, 2012 ). These factors are influential on health behaviors (Pornpitakpan, 2004 ; Raza et al, 2021 ), social matters (Kelman and Hovland, 1953 ; Goyanes, 2020 ), and brand-related attitudes (Goldsmith et al, 2000 ; Thomas and Sooknanan, 2019 ). In addition, bias in the presentation of the news, and low quality of content have a negative impact on the perception of credibility (Chung et al, 2020 ; Kiousis, 2001 ), while competence, timeliness, and dynamism can have both positive or negative impacts on the audiences’ perception (Chan-Olmsted and Cha, 2008 ; Gaby and Caren, 2012 ).…”

Impact of Facebook Usage on the Political Participation among Women in Pakistan

“…It is a truism that consumption of media content through social media platforms, mainly because of access and affordability, has a considerable impact on consumers' lives in different ways, including their political behavior. Thus it is rife to argue that the dissemination and consumption of political content in and from social media influence government performance (Raza, Emenyeonu, Yousaf & Iftikhar, 2021), political values manifested in advertisements (Raza et al, 2020), and apparel purchasing behavior of female consumers (Ikhlaq, Yousaf & Ans, in press). As a result, the participation of people in political activities may have implications in the structure of a government, selection of candidates, and the agenda of a political party (Himelboim et al, 2012).…”