Media Consumption During the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Role of Media Systems: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Global crisis events like the coronavirus pandemic can have an effect on the media and the habits of their audience. The need to find information about the virus and imposed restrictions, as well as the intensity of the COVID-19 coverage and the need to verify the truthfulness of news, make people use many different sources of information. People use media in different ways depending on where they live and the type of political regime and model of media system in their country. This paper aims to analyze whether the model of media system affected people’s selection of sources of information on the virus in Poland, Italy, France, Czech Republic, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and if the pandemic could have changed the media consumption. Based on an online survey conducted with 9541 respondents from six countries, and reports on media use in Poland in 2019 and 2020, we argue that the model of media system did not determine the changes we observed in media use. The nature of the pandemic was more important in this respect, and, as our research shows, led to an increase in media use in the studied countries – especially websites and social media. The case of Poland also showed that the use of public service increased, which can be interpreted as the need for the public to learn about the government’s opinions and restrictions, and to verify