Effects of Political Ideology and News Consumption on the Public's Perception of Fact-Checking: The Case of the United Kingdom

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This timely research project addresses public awareness and understanding of fact-checking in the UK, evaluating the role of political ideology, party allegiance and news media consumption in the formation of attitudes. A two-phase, mixed methods approach is proposed with a broad survey to glean quantitative data, followed by qualitative focus groups with purposive sampling to ensure diversity of age, gender, politics and news consumption habits. The applicant makes a strong case for the urgency of this audience research and its fit with the 'Journalism & Democracy' pathway. Public perceptions of fact-checking are under-researched compared to the practice itself, and existing research focuses mainly on US. Moreover, with its aim of teasing apart media consumption, attitudes towards the media, political convictions, exposure to disinformation and attitudes to fact-checking for contentious issues (e.g., Brexit reforms, where partisan news consumption habitats potentially amplify differences and fuel polarisation), the project has strong impact potential.