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

Author

Listed:
  • Katharine J. Mach

    (University of Miami
    University of Miami)

  • Raúl Salas Reyes

    (University of Toronto)

  • Brian Pentz

    (University of Toronto)

  • Jennifer Taylor

    (University of Toronto)

  • Clarissa A. Costa

    (University of Toronto)

  • Sandip G. Cruz

    (University of Toronto)

  • Kerronia E. Thomas

    (University of Toronto)

  • James C. Arnott

    (Aspen Global Change Institute)

  • Rosalind Donald

    (University of Miami)

  • Kripa Jagannathan

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
    University of Michigan)

  • Christine J. Kirchhoff

    (University of Connecticut)

  • Laura C. Rosella

    (University of Toronto)

  • Nicole Klenk

    (University of Toronto)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Katharine J. Mach & Raúl Salas Reyes & Brian Pentz & Jennifer Taylor & Clarissa A. Costa & Sandip G. Cruz & Kerronia E. Thomas & James C. Arnott & Rosalind Donald & Kripa Jagannathan & Christine J. Ki, 2021. "News media coverage of COVID-19 public health and policy information," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:8:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-021-00900-z
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-021-00900-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Lingli Yu & Ling Yang, 2024. "News media in crisis: a sentiment and emotion analysis of US news articles on unemployment in the COVID-19 pandemic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Lina Alhafez & Lourdes Rubio-Rico & Miriam Diez-Bosch, 2023. "Healthcare professionals’ editorial opinions on communicating with the public: shifting social media hesitancies," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Y. T. Eunice Lo & Dann M. Mitchell & Antonio Gasparrini, 2024. "Compound mortality impacts from extreme temperatures and the COVID-19 pandemic," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Kason Ka Ching Cheung & Ho-Yin Chan & Sibel Erduran, 2023. "Communicating science in the COVID-19 news in the UK during Omicron waves: exploring representations of nature of science with epistemic network analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Siyang Liu & Hailing Yu, 2023. "What is newsworthy about Covid-19? A corpus linguistic analysis of news values in reports by China Daily and The New York Times," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.

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