Media coverage of misinformation aims to increase the quality of news as well as audiences’ trust in it. However, in amplifying misinformation, this approach may have unintended effects. We argue that indirect exposure to misinformation may have negative effects on a host of democratically important outcomes. These unintended effects may be comparable to, or even greater than, those of direct misinformation exposure. This project will systematically examine how exposure to the coverage of misinformation – i.e., (social) media that reports on the amount of false information in the news environment – influences misperceptions, trust in a host of democratic institutions, skepticism, the perceived salience of misinformation, and information-seeking behaviors. We address a fundamental question: “Compared to exposure to actual misinformation, in what ways is the coverage of misinformation harmful, and in what ways is it beneficial?” Our project thus raises the idea that the problem may not be misinformation per se, but that reporting about misinformation may achieve undesired next to possible positive outcomes. To test these effects, we recruit 1600 US citizens to take part in an online experiment.We randomly assign the participants to two treatments, the actual misinformation or the coverage of misinformation, or to a control group. To test for sleeper-effects, the same participants are invited to take part in a follow-up survey a week after completing the first survey, with an estimated final n = 800.