You ain´t seen nothing yet. : Transparency’s (lack of) Effect on Source and Message Credibility

Transparency has been proposed to both change the way journalism is being produced and increase its credibility. However, little research has been conducted to assess the connection between transparency and credibility. This study utilizes an experimental setting (N=1320) to measure what impact transparency have on source and message credibility from the user perspective. The results reveals an almost absence of any transparency effect on both source and message credibility although some small significant effects could be observed primarily regarding internal hyperlinks, comments and contextual information. Although further research is desperately needed in this area the study suggest that transparency does not affect the credibility of journalism in the eyes of the contemporary audience and thus have limited appeal as a new norm in journalism.

Influence of kaolin addition on the dynamics of oxygen mass transport in polyvinyl alcohol dispersion coatings

The permeability of dispersion barriers produced from polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) and kaolin clay blends coated onto polymeric supports has been studied by employing two different measurement methods: the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and the ambient oxygen ingress rate (AOIR). Coatings with different thicknesses and kaolin contents were studied. Structural information of the dispersion-barrier coatings was obtained by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These results showed that the kaolin content influences both the orientation of the kaolin and the degree of crystallinity of the PVOH coating. Increased kaolin content increased the alignment of the kaolin platelets to the basal plane of the coating. Higher kaolin content was accompanied by higher degree of crystallinity of the PVOH. The barrier thickness proved to be less important in the early stages of the mass transport process, whereas it had a significant influence on the steady-state permeability. The results from this study demonstrate the need for better understanding of how permeability is influenced by (chemical and physical) structure.