This study examines respondents' perceptions of newspaper and television news credibility, based on three Taiwan Social Change Surveys conducted by the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, in 1993, 1998 and 2003. The results of this study indicate that in each of these years, respondents regarded news on television as more credible. The results also show that newspaper and television news credibility increased significantly from 1993 to 1998 and declined sharply from 1998 to 2003. This study proposes a theory of selective credibility, which predicts that respondents select those newspaper and television news sources that are in agreement with their existing attitudes and beliefs. Findings further show that political party affiliation is a significant predictor of newspaper and television news credibility. More important, this study found that respondents would rate those newspaper and television newscasts that they read or watch most frequently as the most believable. These findings provide strong support for the proposed theory of selective credibility.
