International crisis communication online: Journalistic quality standards on the credibility of online news reporting crises

The Internet differs from traditional media in that it is constantly up to date and globally accessible, and is increasingly taking on a role in synchronising global events. International crises in particular - which, like the Internet, transcend national borders - attract global attention and public interest as a result of these specific characteristics of the World Wide Web. This study examines the extent to which credibility on the internet serves as a criterion for social orientation in times of uncertainty during international crises. This is because, in addition to its great significance in the context of information perception during times of crisis, credibility, as a measure of journalistic quality, is attributed a dual relevance. This study demonstrates that there are several specific influencing factors which promote the perception of credibility on the internet, as they function as selection aids. However, perceived credibility - particularly of online news during times of crisis - is not a characteristic of the object in question, but rather a property of the perception of that object.