Förtroendekapitalet

The purpose of our study is to map changes in credibility within the editorial caused by the introduction of native advertising in the two Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet and Aftonbladet. The purpose of the study will be examined through three main questions: • Has the journalists credibility regarding their own news product changed because of the introduction of native advertising? • Does the journalists think that the readers credibility for the news product has changed because of the introduction of native advertising? • Does the journalists consider native advertising an important source of income for the news product to carry independent journalism? To answer the questions above we applied a quantitative study by using a web-¬‐ based questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to 188 journalists employed by either Aftonbladet or Svenska Dagbladet. Out of those 188 journalists 31 answered the questionnaire. Considering the low frequency in answers the ambition with the results of the study is to only draw conclusions on the actual respondents. The results may however give a hint on how the credibility has changed amongst a broader population of journalists. Our results shows that journalists employed by Aftonbladet has a more critical view on the usage of native advertising compared to Svenska Dagbladet, where native advertising didn’t affect the majority of the respondents credibility negatively for their own product. The journalists from both newspapers widely agreed on that the readers credibility for respective newspaper may lower because of the appearance of native advertising. The results also show that differences in credibility vary depending on years as employed on the newspaper, profession and level of education. Journalists that have been working on a newspaper for more than four years are more critical towards native advertising. The credibility of the own news product tends to lower for reporters because of the usage of native advertising. That compared to the news editors, who’s credibility remains relatively unaffected. Respondents without any form of journalistic education tend to have a more negative attitude towards native advertising.