JOURNALISTS’ PERCEPTION OF THE CREDIBILITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS IN NEWS GATHERING AND REPORTING. A SURVEY OF JOURNALISTS IN KWARA STATE

The increasing use of social media platforms in news gathering and reporting has raised concerns about their credibility. This study investigated journalists’ perception of the credibility of social media platforms in Kwara State, the objectives of the study was to (1) evaluate the level of reliance on social media as a news-gathering tool by journalists in Kwara State, (2) identify factors influencing Journalists Perceptions of social media credibility on news reporting, (3) assess the challenges journalists face in verifying information gathered from social media, (4) examine the impact of social media-sourced information on the perceived trustworthiness of news content among journalists in Kwara State. The population of the study consists of the entire journalists in Kwara State, which led to the adoption of mixed method approach as research design and a survey of 233 journalists from various media outlets was conducted, 2 indepth interview was conducted and the results showed that journalists have mixed perceptions about the credibility of social media platforms. While some journalists expressed concerns about their accuracy and trustworthiness. The study identified Goggle and Chrome, Twitter as the most widely used social media platforms among 90% of journalists, but also revealed challenges in verifying social media sources. The findings have implications for journalism practice, media literacy, and the role of social media platforms in news gathering and reporting.