IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i18p9542-d632712.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Media Representations of Science during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis of News and Social Media on the Island of Ireland

Author

Listed:
  • Cliodhna O’Connor

    (School of Psychology, University College Dublin, D04 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Nicola O’Connell

    (Discipline of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Population Health, Trinity College Dublin, D02 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Emma Burke

    (Discipline of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Population Health, Trinity College Dublin, D02 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Ann Nolan

    (Trinity Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, D02 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Martin Dempster

    (School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5BN, UK)

  • Christopher D. Graham

    (School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5BN, UK)

  • Gail Nicolson

    (Discipline of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Population Health, Trinity College Dublin, D02 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Joseph Barry

    (Discipline of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Population Health, Trinity College Dublin, D02 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Gabriel Scally

    (School of Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1QU, UK)

  • Philip Crowley

    (Quality Improvement, Health Service Executive, D08 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Lina Zgaga

    (Discipline of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Population Health, Trinity College Dublin, D02 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Luke Mather

    (Discipline of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Population Health, Trinity College Dublin, D02 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Catherine D. Darker

    (Discipline of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Population Health, Trinity College Dublin, D02 Dublin, Ireland)

Abstract

COVID-19 is arguably the most critical science communication challenge of a generation, yet comes in the wake of a purported populist turn against scientific expertise in western societies. This study advances understanding of science–society relations during the COVID-19 pandemic by analysing how science was represented in news and social media coverage of COVID-19 on the island of Ireland. Thematic analysis was performed on a dataset comprising 952 news articles and 603 tweets published between 1 January and 31 May 2020. Three themes characterised the range of meanings attached to science: ‘Defining science: Its subjects, practice and process’, ‘Relating to science: Between veneration and suspicion’ and ‘Using science: As solution, policy and rhetoric’. The analysis suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic represented a platform to highlight the value, philosophy, process and day-to-day activity of scientific research. However, the study also identified risks the pandemic might pose to science communication, including feeding public alienation by disparaging lay understandings, reinforcing stereotypical images of scientists, and amplifying the politicisation of scientific statements.

Suggested Citation

  • Cliodhna O’Connor & Nicola O’Connell & Emma Burke & Ann Nolan & Martin Dempster & Christopher D. Graham & Gail Nicolson & Joseph Barry & Gabriel Scally & Philip Crowley & Lina Zgaga & Luke Mather & Ca, 2021. "Media Representations of Science during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis of News and Social Media on the Island of Ireland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-23, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9542-:d:632712
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9542/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9542/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eichengreen, Barry & Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Saka, Orkun, 2021. "Revenge of the experts: Will COVID-19 renew or diminish public trust in science?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    2. Shanto Iyengar & Douglas S. Massey, 2019. "Scientific communication in a post-truth society," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(16), pages 7656-7661, April.
    3. Lynne Peeples, 2020. "Face masks: what the data say," Nature, Nature, vol. 586(7828), pages 186-189, October.
    4. Fukasawa, Maiko & Kawakami, Norito & Umeda, Maki & Akiyama, Tsuyoshi & Horikoshi, Naoko & Yasumura, Seiji & Yabe, Hirooki & Suzuki, Yuriko & Bromet, Evelyn J., 2020. "Long-lasting effects of distrust in government and science on mental health eight years after the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    5. Fuller, Steve, 2017. "Brexit as the unlikely leading edge of the anti-expert revolution," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 575-580.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wheatley Dawn, 2022. "Irish audiences and news information from official sources during Covid-19," Administration, Sciendo, vol. 70(3), pages 7-32, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kim, Hyunjung & Li, Tongzhe, 2024. "Rethinking the Significance of Scientific Information: A Field Experiment with Agricultural Producers," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 344038, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Abigail B. Schneider & Bridget Leonard, 2022. "From anxiety to control: Mask‐wearing, perceived marketplace influence, and emotional well‐being during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 97-119, March.
    3. Thomas G. Safford & Emily H. Whitmore & Lawrence C. Hamilton, 2021. "Scientists, presidents, and pandemics—comparing the science–politics nexus during the Zika virus and COVID‐19 outbreaks," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2482-2498, November.
    4. Balcaen, Pieter & Buts, Caroline & Bois, Cind Du & Tkacheva, Olesya, 2023. "The effect of disinformation about COVID-19 on consumer confidence: Insights from a survey experiment," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    5. Fassina, Caroline & Jarvis, Diane & Tavares, Silvia & Coggan, Anthea, 2022. "Valuation of ecosystem services through offsets: Why are coastal ecosystems more valuable in Australia than in Brazil?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    6. Shockey, James W, 2021. "Social Aspects of COVID Mitigation," SocArXiv sgjvp, Center for Open Science.
    7. Oluwaseun Aleshinloye & Majeed Orolade & Olatosimi Fadahunsi, 2024. "Infodemic During Pandemic: Policy Lessons for Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(4), pages 760-781, April.
    8. Anda Rožukalne & Vineta Kleinberga & Alise Tīfentāle & Ieva Strode, 2022. "What Is the Flag We Rally Around? Trust in Information Sources at the Outset of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Latvia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-18, March.
    9. Bietenbeck, Jan & Sunde, Uwe & Thiemann, Petra, 2023. "Recession Experiences during Early Adulthood Shape Prosocial Attitudes Later in Life," IZA Discussion Papers 16490, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Marcella Alsan & Sarah Eichmeyer, 2024. "Experimental Evidence on the Effectiveness of Nonexperts for Improving Vaccine Demand," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 394-414, February.
    11. Angerer, Silvia & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Rittmannsberger, Thomas, 2023. "How does the vaccine approval procedure affect COVID-19 vaccination intentions?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    12. David E. Bloom & Michael Kuhn & Klaus Prettner, 2022. "Modern Infectious Diseases: Macroeconomic Impacts and Policy Responses," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 85-131, March.
    13. Klaus Gründler & Armin Hackenberger & Anina Harter & Niklas Potrafke, 2021. "Covid-19 Vaccination: The Role of Crisis Experience," CESifo Working Paper Series 9096, CESifo.
    14. Bloeser, Katharine & McCarron, Kelly K. & Merker, Vanessa L. & Hyde, Justeen & Bolton, Rendelle E. & Anastasides, Nicole & Petrakis, Beth Ann & Helmer, Drew A. & Santos, Susan & Litke, David & Pigeon,, 2021. "“Because the country, it seems though, has turned their back on me”: Experiences of institutional betrayal among veterans living with Gulf War Illness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    15. Alice Dominici and Lisen Arnheim Dahlström, 2023. "Targeting vaccine information framing to recipients’ education: a randomized trial," Economics Working Papers EUI ECO 2023/02, European University Institute.
    16. Yuen, Vera W.H., 2023. "The efficacy of health experts’ communication in inducing support for COVID-19 measures and effect on trustworthiness: A survey in Hong Kong," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    17. Marcel Garz & Maiting Zhuang, 2024. "Media coverage and pandemic behavior: Evidence from Sweden," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(6), pages 1319-1367, June.
    18. Aslam, Maqsood & Farvaque, Etienne, 2022. "Once bitten, twice bold? Early life tragedy and central bankers’ reaction to COVID-19," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    19. Floyd Jiuyun Zhang, 2023. "Political endorsement by Nature and trust in scientific expertise during COVID-19," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(5), pages 696-706, May.
    20. Kalgotra, Pankush & Gupta, Ashish & Sharda, Ramesh, 2021. "Pandemic information support lifecycle: Evidence from the evolution of mobile apps during COVID-19," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 540-559.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9542-:d:632712. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.