How Sticky Is Pink Slime? Assessing the Credibility of Deceptive Local Media

Abstract

The ongoing decline of local news not only deprives communities of important information, but also provides an opening for misinformation through so-called pink slime journalism: local media that poses as a news outlet and exploits the low cost of automating content to deceive readers. Is there an advantage to posing as a newspaper online? In this study, I use a survey experiment to assess how readers respond to the same headline delivered to them as a fake newspaper, a fake website, or a real television station. Respondents rated the fake local newspaper as less credible than a real television station or a fake local website, but they rated fake local websites as credibly as real local television. Readers’ preference for following local or national news and the timing of assessment moderate these effects.