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Kroon, Muriël de (2022)

Communicating Uncertainty Without Losing Public Trust: The Influence of Expression Length and Frequency in Verbal Phrases of Uncertainty

Bachelor thesis | Engelse taal en cultuur (BA)
In a ‘post-truth’ society, many journalists have become afraid to communicate uncertainty about their information as they believe it to decrease public trust. Earlier research showed this was not the case, but not enough attention was paid to the linguistic stimuli with which the uncertainty was communicated. Through a survey with five texts covering two contested topics, climate change and rising prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the effect of expression length and frequency of verbal phrases of uncertainty were tested for their perceived uncertainty, reliability, trust in the information and trust in the authors. Results showed that the verbal expression of uncertainty, no matter the length or frequency, did not influence any of the four tested components. These results should reassure journalists that transparency does not negatively affect trust, and that they can safely communicate uncertainty about their information.
public trust
uncertainty
trust
communication
news
Author
Kroon, Muriël de
Faculty
Faculty of Humanities
Supervisors
Terkourafi, M.
ECTS Credits
10
Language
en