From Walter Cronkite to AI Anchors: Perception, Attention and Credibility of News

Shuhua Zhou is the 2026 recipient of the BEA Lifetime Achievement in Scholarship Award (LAS).  Dr. Zhou will receive his award right before this special podium session presentation.  This presentation traces the evolving landscape of broadcast news from the trusted, authoritative voice of Walter Cronkite to the hyperrealistic, algorithm-driven era of AI anchors, exploring how these technological shifts fundamentally alter our cognitive relationship with information. By drawing on a series of his own studies, Dr. Zhou examines the underlying psychological mechanisms—specifically perception and attention—that shape how audiences process news and assign credibility and what this these mean for the future of news.