In-Audible Experts? Managing the Perception of Expert’s Statements in the Era of Multimodal Media, on the Example of Selected Material From an Information Service ‒ Pilot Study

The article discusses the perception studies of experts commenting political events on television. The aim of the study was to determine to what extent the expert hypothesis works in the era of multimodal communication and information noise. In addition, an attempt was made to identify elements of viewers’ attention management, such as: attractors and visual distractors, and to determine the importance of emblems of expertise in qualifying people who speak to this group. Two research techniques were used in the study: eye tracking and surveys, which allowed for comprehensive analysis of multimodal message. Research shows that in the case of such messages, viewers usually use the face-caption-face scheme, with the face being the attractor for both groups – a single person and a crowd. The elements of the background turned out to be distractors, which can be of great importance in the perception of expert statements, since in the media we recently tend to place the expert outside, in a dynamic surrounding. At the same time, the analysis showed that expert emblems, e.g. title or clothing, are an indicator of the speaker’s belonging to this group. Despite of this, expert statements were considered by the respondents to be aggressive, non-substantive and not adding anything to their knowledge of politics, which supports the recognition of Tom Nichols’s thesis about the death of experts and their expertise, and at the same time about the inadequacy of the hypothesis referring to experts in the age of multimodal media.

The article discusses the perception studies of experts commenting political events on television. The aim of the study was to determine to what extent the expert hypothesis works in the era of multimodal communication and information noise. In addition, an attempt was made to identify elements of viewers’ attention management, such as: attractors and visual distractors, and to determine the importance of emblems of expertise in qualifying people who speak to this group. Two research techniques were used in the study: eye tracking and surveys, which allowed for comprehensive analysis of multimodal message. Research shows that in the case of such messages, viewers usually use the face-caption-face scheme, with the face being the attractor for both groups – a single person and a crowd. The elements of the background turned out to be distractors, which can be of great importance in the perception of expert statements, since in the media we recently tend to place the expert outside, in a dynamic surrounding. At the same time, the analysis showed that expert emblems, e.g. title or clothing, are an indicator of the speaker’s belonging to this group. Despite of this, expert statements were considered by the respondents to be aggressive, non-substantive and not adding anything to their knowledge of politics, which supports the recognition of Tom Nichols’s thesis about the death of experts and their expertise, and at the same time about the inadequacy of the hypothesis referring to experts in the age of multimodal media.