CREDIBILITY OF ONLINE MEDIA SOURCES

Abstract

Media discourse in the modern digital environment, based on simplicity, speed and short forms, directs journalists to easily accessible sources, which consequently leads to debatable credibility, creation and distribution of unverified and fake news. Although user-generated content offers a global hyperproduction of data and information, as well as an almost unlimited connection of networked individuals and groups, social networks cannot be accepted as a credible media channel, but only as an initial orientation towards current topics that need to be further confirmed. In a legally undefined and ethically insufficient space, as a rational alternative to the viral transfer of false news, systemic education is suggested, which will contribute to media literacy with its continuity and comprehensiveness. Digital media, due to its simplicity and speed of spreading news, has been labeled as a key problem in the distribution of fake news and disinformation, but this should not be accepted as an absolutely correct statement. Namely, in the race for greater listenership and viewership, as well as a greater number of printed copies sold, traditional media more and more often goes out of the legal and ethical frameworks, literally without checking facts and without explaining the context of the news. Detection of fake news and its spread in the digital space is easier in open platforms than in end-to-end encrypted messaging applications, such as Viber or WhatsApp, where trust in information is at a higher level due to being sourced from virtual friends. The goal of this work is to offer media consumers arguments-based content on which they will entrust their time and attention to credible sources of information. In this sense, the authors especially emphasize the importance of the process of media literacy and the transformation of long-term tasks and actions into continuous activities, in order to reduce the gap between the countries of the Western Balkans and the rest of Europe. Also, the paperwork actualizes the problem of non-recognition and inapplicability of ethical norms to media platforms, where data and pieces of information are distributed in a simple way, without cost burden, and in limitless digital directions. Threatening and undermining the credibility of online media sources is visible through numerous inappropriate actions, such as disrespecting copyright and intellectual property, cybercrime, false representation, neglecting respect for dignity, privacy and security, or abuse of ignorance and credulity. The complexity of the problem is reflected in the fact that the application of ethics in the online media space implies its application in other areas as well, such as, for example, healthcare, education or the judiciary. By abstracting that fact, we consciously enter a dead end where there is no solution at the end of the road, that is, the media as a "mirror of society" cannot be leaders in the implementation of stable ethical standards, but only part of the overall changes.