Digital Rumors, Cognitive Trust, and News Verification Behavior
A Quantitative Assessment of Fake News Consumption Among Journalism Students in Delhi-NCR Universities
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19490271 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anurag Kumar Mishra (IFTM University), Rajesh Kumar Shukla (IFTM University), Ramesh Kumar Sharma (0000-0001-6078-4714) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 12s |
| Publication date | 2026-05-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2582-7472 • E-ISSN: 2582-7472 |
| Publisher | Granthaalayah Publications and Printers (PUBLISHER • IN) |
| DOI | 10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i12s.2026.8344 |
| OpenAlex | W7162445211 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 11 |
Cognitive and behavioral reactions to fake news by journalism students is a little-studied aspect of media literacy scholarship, especially in a time when fake news is proliferating and increasingly pervasive. This study is a quantitative analysis of the interaction of fake news exposure, digital rumors consumption, cognitive trust formation, peer influence, social media dependency, and digital literacy in influencing news verification behavior among journalism and mass communication (JMC) students at Delhi-NCR universities. Primary data was collected from N = 500 journalism students studying at Jamia Millia Islamia Delhi University, Delhi; Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi and Amity University, Noida that was sampled using stratified random sampling procedure. Data was collected from a questionnaire consisting of 50 items which were validated using SPSS v.26. Pearson's correlation, multiple regression analysis, one-way ANOVA, independent sample t-tests, and Chi-square tests were used. Constructs achieved a range of Cronbach's Alpha coefficients between 0.80 and 0.91, which suggests reliability of the instrument. Results indicated that the highest predictors of misinformation acceptance were cognitive trust in social media (β = 0.49, p
Cognition · Digital Literacy · Journalism · Literacy · Media literacy · Misinformation · Moderation · Social media · Stratified sampling · Literacy, Media, and Education · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Social Media and Politics
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Credibility of Social Network Sites for Political Information Among Politically Interested Internet Users
News, entertainment, or both? Exploring audience perceptions of media genre in a hybrid media environment
A Picture Paints a Thousand Lies? The Effects and Mechanisms of Multimodal Disinformation and Rebuttals Disseminated via Social Media
A Dependency Model of Mass-Media Effects
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |