News media coverage of COVID-19 public health and policy information

Abstract

During a pandemic, news media play a crucial role in communicating public health and policy information. Traditional newspaper coverage is important amidst increasing disinformation, yet uncertainties make covering health risks and efforts to limit transmission difficult. This study assesses print and online newspaper coverage of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 for March 2020, when the global pandemic was declared, through August 2020 in three countries: Canada (with the lowest per-capita case and death rates during the study timeframe), the United Kingdom (with a pronounced early spike), and the United States (with persistently high rates). Tools previously validated for pandemic-related news records allow measurement of multiple indicators of scientific quality (i.e., reporting that reflects the state of scientific knowledge) and of sensationalism (i.e., strategies rendering news as more extraordinary than it really is). COVID-19 reporting had moderate scientific quality and low sensationalism across 1331 sampled articles in twelve newspapers spanning the political spectrums of the three countries. Newspapers oriented towards the populist-right had the lowest scientific quality in reporting, combined with very low sensationalism in some cases. Against a backdrop of world-leading disease rates, U.S. newspapers on the political left had more exposing coverage, e.g., focused on policy failures or misinformation, and more warning coverage, e.g., focused on the risks of the disease, compared to U.S. newspapers on the political right. Despite the generally assumed benefits of low sensationalism, pandemic-related coverage with low scientific quality that also failed to alert readers to public-health risks, misinformation, or policy failures may have exacerbated the public-health effects of the disease. Such complexities will likely remain central for both pandemic news media reporting and public-health strategies reliant upon it.

Exploring U.S. food system workers’ intentions to work while ill during the early COVID-19 pandemic: a national survey

“…This study occurred during the first four to six months of the pandemic, when vaccines were unavailable, after initiation of federal paid sick leave policies, and before eviction moratoriums and unemployment insurance enhancements expired (62). Because of rapid U.S. case rate increases and news coverage emphasizing disease severity during these months (63), respondents may have perceived COVID-19 as more severe than other illnesses and planned to remain home. As the pandemic continued and many states prioritized “reopening,” essential and non-essential workers were encouraged to return to work, and supporting policies were relaxed or rescinded.…”

Local TV News Coverage of Racial Disparities in COVID-19 During the First Wave of the Pandemic, March–June 2020

“…To date, however, few studies have examined how the news media, and local TV news in particular, have covered racial/ethnic health disparities related to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 related news coverage increased substantially in March 2020 and declined gradually thereafter in May and June (Mach et al, 2021). One study found that national online newspaper outlets (January to March 2020) most commonly emphasized the financial impact of , stories of individuals affected by COVID-19 (7.0%), COVID-19 death and death rates (6.8%), precautionary recommendations for the public (6.2%), and quarantine (5.9%) (Basch et al, 2020).…”

COVID-19 mass media coverage in English and public reactions: a West-East comparison via Facebook posts

“…Considering the double-edged sword effect mass media can generate, it is important to examine how different media portray the outbreak differently. While past studies have initiated such efforts, they mostly focused on either certain news outlets e.g ., ( Hossain, Wahab & Khan, 2022 ; Ogbodo et al, 2020 ), specific locations sharing similar cultural backgrounds e.g ., ( Mach et al, 2021 ; Rianto & Pratama, 2021 ), or relatively small number of different countries ( Wu, 2021 ). It is arguably difficult to infer a larger direct comparison, such as the differences between West and East mass media portrayals of the pandemic, let alone examine public reactions to such portrayals, due to these scopes.…”