Understanding the Baby Boomers’ Process in Assessing the Credibility of Digital News Outlets in the Philippines

Abstract

This study explored the connection between select Filipino baby boomers’ perception of whether a news outlet is credible and the factors contributing to this perception. This study aimed to discover why older audiences prefer one news outlet over another and whether technology literacy affects their credibility assessment among news outlets. Five Filipino participants, aged 58 through 76, were interviewed about which news outlet they trust the most and why they believe it is a credible source of information. The informants could share their inputs regarding the importance of credibility, such as having fearless news, being accustomed to the news outlet, and perceived impartiality. Informants chose the news outlets based on impartiality and fearlessness. The most favored news outlet by the participants is GMA, while Rappler, Inquirer, and Philstar were also mentioned because the three news outlets are not afraid of anything. Age has nothing to do with the participants’ frequency of reading news, but a better rating system for news reading frequency might have presented a better connection between the two groupings.