Empirical research
Media credibility refers to the perceived believability of media content "beyond any proof of its contentions." Although its roots are in Hovland's classic persuasion research on source credibility, media credibility research has shifted the focus from characteristics of individual, personal sources to characteristics of media behaviors such as objectivity, accuracy, fairness, and lack of bias. Empirical research has found that media credibility is an important part, along with message characteristics and audience characteristics, of effective communication.