No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Spreading Ebola Panic: Newspaper and Social Media Coverage of the 2014 Ebola Health Crisis
Abstract
During times of hot crises, traditional news organizations have historically contributed to public fear and panic by emphasizing risks and uncertainties. The degree to which digital and social media platforms contribute to this panic is essential to consider in the new media landscape. This research examines news coverage of the 2014 Ebola crisis, exploring differences in presentation between newspaper coverage and news shared on the social news platform Reddit. Results suggest that news shared on Reddit amplified panic and uncertainty surrounding Ebola, while traditional newspaper coverage was significantly less likely to produce panic-inducing coverage.
... In addition to generic frames, researchers often rely on an inductive approach and the use of issue-specific frames that take into consideration the national context or the nature of the event (Lecheler & De Vreese, 2019). Following Kilgo et al. (2019), we use a Mona K. Solvoll & Marte Høiby Article: Framing the Covid-19 pandemic speculation frame to cover panic-triggering news, conspiracy theories, and the spread of false information, although this frame is found to be among the least used Hubner, 2021). Issue-specific frames in our context also include a range of pandemicrelated frames. ...
... Issue-specific frames in our context also include a range of pandemicrelated frames. Among the dominate frames were health consequences (Shih et al., 2008;Bhatti et al., 2022;Ebrahim, 2022), health crisis (Poirier et al., 2020), general risk (Kilgo et al., 2019), scale of the pandemic (Siddiqua et al., 2020), death and death rates (Basch et al., 2020), containment , and symptoms (Ophir et al., 2021). Most studies included several detailed frames addressing perspectives of the pandemic, and so we included three medical frames: a factual medical risk focus frame about the epidemiology, a social behaviour and risk frame (recommendations, guidelines, and preventive behavioural practices), and an illness and mortality frame about death rates and registers of those infected as well as hospitalisation. ...
... To act as an arena for debate and to be critical and investigative are difficult roles to fill under the extreme uncertainty and severe consequences that accompanied the social consequences created by the Covid-19 pandemic in the initial phase (Viehmann et al., 2022). The news media had to carefully balance their watchdog role -monitoring and scrutinising those in power -while simultaneously risking contributing to public fear Mona K. Solvoll & Marte Høiby Article: Framing the Covid-19 pandemic and panic by emphasising risks and uncertainties, as in previous health crises (Kilgo et al., 2019). Another balancing act was to make sure the state-owned public service broadcaster, NRK, was not seen as a mouthpiece of the government, while also allowing politicians and health experts to use news and debate programmes as arenas for speaking to the public. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused both a widespread public health crisis and a global economic crisis, disrupting every aspect of our lives, health, education, jobs, and social life. To provide the public with trustworthy and continuously updated information and stories during uncertain times, newsrooms have made pandemic coverage a priority. Conducting a content analysis of Norwegian news and debate programs on radio and television throughout 2020, we found that the frames most dominant in news broadcasts were the least used frames in debate programs, and vice versa. Overall, the five most common frames were societal consequences, economic consequences, medical risk, government measures, social behaviour, and risk. This suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic was contextualized as an economic and social crisis as well as a health crisis. However, the lack of politicization, conflict and responsibility frames, suggests media coverage missed a critical perspective.
... Of the plethora of information covered in news on health crises, crisis response actions/coping strategies are key areas (Bardhan, 2001;Ngai et al, 2020;Pan and Meng, 2016;Shih et al., 2008). Considerable research has found evidence of response actions in helping to contain a pandemic (Kilgo et al., 2019;Pan and Meng, 2016;Shih et al., 2008;Ungar, 1998Ungar, , 2008. For example, crisis response actions like containment strategies were widely reported in newspaper coverage on Ebola (Kilgo et al., 2019) while the action frame to prevent the virus spread was seen in news media coverage on COVID-19 in China via social media (Ngai et al., 2020). ...
... Considerable research has found evidence of response actions in helping to contain a pandemic (Kilgo et al., 2019;Pan and Meng, 2016;Shih et al., 2008;Ungar, 1998Ungar, , 2008. For example, crisis response actions like containment strategies were widely reported in newspaper coverage on Ebola (Kilgo et al., 2019) while the action frame to prevent the virus spread was seen in news media coverage on COVID-19 in China via social media (Ngai et al., 2020). These crisis response actions tie in with the prevention/protection frame of Bardhan (2001) and Shih et al.'s (2008) action frame used for framing health epidemics in The New York Times. ...
... Such information can allay fear (Ngai and Jin, 2016) and can be disseminated in mainstream news media. Kilgo et al. (2019) and Ungar (1998Ungar ( , 2008 highlighted that media coverage of response actions is solution-focused, thereby allaying panic rather than inducing panic. Given that prevention and coping strategies are most crucial in curbing a new pandemic, our study examined the content within mainstream news media that focused on coping strategies for the prevention and protection from COVID-19 on social media in the U.S. and China. ...
This study compares the coverage of coping strategies and emotions portrayed in news regarding COVID-19 by The New York Times in the U.S. and People’s Daily of China via social media. By employing corpus assisted discourse analysis to scrutinize the text corpora, our study uncovered prominent keywords and themes. Findings indicate that a comprehensive range of themes relating to coping strategies was more common in People’s Daily while a relatively smaller number of themes was apparent in The New York Times. In terms of emotions exhibited in the news coverage, positive emotions such as cheer, gratitude, and good wishes predominated in People’s Daily whereas in The New York Times, negative emotions in the form of fears and anxiety were salient. The differences are explained with reference to the political context intertwined with the news environment and prior experiences in handling epidemics, with practical implications.
... By mining and scanning through available literature, pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, Cholera, Ebola, SARS and influenza have had an impact on how journalism is practiced (Fatima, 2020;Kilgo, et al., 2019;Zhang & Matingwina, 2016;Lin et al., 2016;Reynolds & Quinn Crouse, 2008;Wu, 2006). Research on pandemics and journalism for instance has explored news coverage of the 2014 Ebola crisis. ...
... Research on pandemics and journalism for instance has explored news coverage of the 2014 Ebola crisis. This research has shown the differences between newspaper coverage and news shared on the social news platform Reddit (Kilgo et al., 2019). Closely related to this study, is Zhang and Matingwina's (2016) study that explored how constructive journalism employed by China Daily and the BBC contributed to effective health communication of the Ebola disease. ...
... This contributes to the reconstruction of journalism that is ignored by other previous studies in Africa that are related to journalism practise and pandemics. Instead, these studies have assessed conventional practices of journalism such as framing of news stories, discourses concerning the coronavirus pandemic; newspaper and social media coverage of health pandemics such as Ebola (Perreault & Perreault, 2021;Fatima, 2020;Kilgo, et al., 2019;Zhang & Matingwina, 2016;Lin et al., 2016). ...
This is a cross-national comparative study of how media in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa reconstructed their operations in response to Covid-19 global pandemic. The study is grounded in a qualitative research design that uses semi-structured interviews with journalists from Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. The study investigated how news operations, newsroom cultures, news gathering, and news dissemination practices were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Informed by the sociology of news production theoretical lens, the study noted that journalists and editors were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which ensured they change some journalistic practices. The findings of this study reveal that journalists suffered traumatic experiences such as job losses, covid-19 related illness and fatalities. At a regulatory level, findings confirm the perennial challenges with media freedoms in the region with South Africa remaining a lone outlier. Lastly, interviews with journalists further demonstrate that newsrooms have had to maximise digital affordances for news gathering and dissemination as old revenue streams dried up. As a result, print media scaled back in its operations as a response to containing the spread of the virus.
... Research literature has explored how the media framed various crises (An and Gower, 2009;Chouliaraki and Zaborowski, 2017;Humphries et al., 2017;Olsson and Nord, 2015;Ophir, 2019;Umphrey, 2003) and how frames and narratives of crises and/or political events in different types of media cause a decline in trust in the government (Ariely, 2015;Ceron and Memoli, 2015;Chen and Sun, 2019;Chouliaraki and Stolic, 2017;Gainous et al., 2019;Im et al., 2014;Porumbescu, 2017;Van Hulst et al., 2014). Researched narratives include criticism of governmental action versus compliance and deference to government authority (Chowanietz, 2011;Kazun, 2016;Olsson and Nord, 2015), expressions of solidarity and mutual assistance (Hawdon et al., 2012;Ryan and Hawdon, 2008) and spread of panic or anxiety versus expressions of optimism (Kilgo et al., 2018;Shan et al., 2014). ...
... By directing consumers to "the important details" (Liu and Kim, 2011), frames restrict. In order to attract consumers' attention, framing a crisis in traditional media frequently incorporates negative words such as "panic" and "fear," which consequently affect media consumers' anxiety (Shan et al., 2014;Kilgo et al., 2018). Furthermore, media can increase or reduce the level of panic in society by emphasizing risks and uncertainty and by their choice of spokespersons, for example, by interviewing experts who explain how to stop the contagion or suggest various solutions versus broadcasts that focus on speculations, blame throwing and risks (Kilgo et al., 2018). ...
... In order to attract consumers' attention, framing a crisis in traditional media frequently incorporates negative words such as "panic" and "fear," which consequently affect media consumers' anxiety (Shan et al., 2014;Kilgo et al., 2018). Furthermore, media can increase or reduce the level of panic in society by emphasizing risks and uncertainty and by their choice of spokespersons, for example, by interviewing experts who explain how to stop the contagion or suggest various solutions versus broadcasts that focus on speculations, blame throwing and risks (Kilgo et al., 2018). The narratives and frames of crisis coverage selected by the media affect consumers' willingness to comply with government instructions (Ophir, 2019), because framing affects how the public perceives the crisis and the government's policy. ...
Purpose
This study examined the association between media consumers' attitudes toward COVID-19-related content on mainstream, on-demand and social media and trust in the government's ability to handle the pandemic crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on an online survey of a representative sample of 1,005 Israelis aged 18 and over and focused on consumers' perceptions of media contents as a source of information, social solidarity, criticism and anxiety.
Findings
Findings indicate that mainstream media were the primary source of pandemic information. A positive association was found between perceptions of mainstream media as a source of criticism and trust in government's actions. This association was negative regarding social and on-demand media. The more mainstream media contents were perceived as anxiety evoking, the lower participants' trust in government's actions. A positive association was found between perceptions that social media encouraged social solidarity and trust in governmental action.
Practical implications
Policymakers should take into consideration that various media operate synergistically to continually construct reality.
Originality/value
This study focuses on consumers' perceptions of COVID-related media contents, which are especially important in the current era of media outlet proliferation, distribution and impact on the government. The unique contribution is in the integrated application of media malaise theory, virtuous circle theory and echo chamber theory to explain the correlation between media consumption and public trust during a global crisis in the era of diverse media outlets.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-06-2021-0299 .
... Alvarez-Galvez et al. [25] suggested five determinants of information during disease outbreaks: information sources, structure and consensus of the online community, communication channels, message content, and context. In recent studies, researchers have focused on: (1) the content of news, such as the spread and identification of fake news [26,27] or topics of news coverage [28]; and (2) the perception of risk, such as media coverage that exacerbated public fear and panic about the infectious disease [29,30] or changes in people's perception of an emerging infectious disease [31]. However, there is a lack of research on the collective actions of global media systems. ...
... The findings of the study contribute to the understanding of news flow for risk communication in public health emergencies. Although there is a large body of research on risk communication of public health emergencies [19,29], few studies have investigated the news flow for risk communication from a network perspective. This study contributed to the literature by exploring the global media citation network of COVID-19-related news and revealing how global media systems (the core and periphery of the network) cooperated in risk communication. ...
This study examined the global media citation network of COVID-19-related news at two stages of the pandemic alert phase, i.e., the national level alert stage and the global level alert stage. The findings reveal that the small-world pattern and scale-free property of media citation networks contributed to the rapid spread of COVID-19-related news around the world. Within the networks, a small number of media outlets from a few countries formed the backbone of the network to control the risk communication; meanwhile, many media of geographical and cultural similarities formed cross-border collaborative cliques in the periphery of the network. When the alert phase escalated from the national level to the global level, the network demonstrated a number of changes. The findings contribute to the understanding of risk communication for international public health emergencies by taking into account the network perspective and evolutionary nature of public health emergencies in analysis.
... During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have observed with utmost concern that none of these criteria have been met for epidemiological data routinely presented in Canadian public communications by official news outlets and government bodies. Researchers raised similar concerns about the quality of reporting about the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa [11]. A systematic analysis of 69 Ebola epidemic reports found that only 70% included case definitions and 84% included proportions of patient outcomes such as hospitalizations, mortality, and intensive care unit admittance [12]. ...
... The systematic analysis included only articles published in scientific journals and no reports published by news outlets or governmental bodies. Some articles [11,13,14] did assess news outlet and social media reporting of the Ebola epidemic, but primarily looked at the impact of sensational reporting, with less focus on epidemiological reporting standards. The authors concluded that the way in which infectious disease data are reported can influence the public perception of risk associated with a disease. ...
Canadian coronavirus (COVID-19) case statistics reported by governmental bodies and news outlets are central to inform the public and to guide health policy. We searched Canadian governmental and news outlets websites to determine how COVID-19 case statistics were reported to the general public, whether they were reported with appropriate denominators, data sources, and accounted for age, sex, and race or ethnicity. Canadian COVID-19 data reporting practices were found to have limited utility due to varying case definitions, heterogeneous and dynamic testing criteria, lack of appropriate standardization accounting for dynamics, sizes, and characteristics of the populations being tested. Population-wide representative COVID-19 testing should be implemented to enable accurate estimation of the scale and dynamics of the epidemiological situation. Comprehensive COVID-19 data on underrepresented and marginalized populations should be collected and reported in an effort to develop equitable health policies.
... Panic caused by media was also experienced during the Ebola outbreak. During times of hot crises, traditional news organizations have historically contributed to public fear and panic by emphasizing risks and uncertainties [14]. The degree to which digital and social media platforms contribute to this panic is essential to consider in the new media landscape. ...
... This is followed by 27.7% of the respondents who said they panic because of reports by conventional media (TV; Radio; Newspapers). This finding is in line with the finding by [14] that during times of hot crises, traditional news organizations have historically contributed to public fear and panic by emphasizing risks and uncertainties. Reports from colleagues and friends (26.5%) are the least cause of panic among the media and interpersonal communication channels. ...
Media and Communication Channels as carriers of news on COVID-19 might have a role in spreading panic among the population. This study was conducted to determine the media and communication channels responsible for creating panic among Malaysians during COVID-19 Movement Control Order (MCO). A survey using questionnaire was used to collect data from 253 respondents across Malaysia. In terms of media and communication channels, most of the respondents reported that they panic due to the exposure to reports from online media (Internet and social media). This is followed by communication with family members. TV, radio and newspaper reports are the third contributors of panic among Malaysians during COVID-19 MCO. Meanwhile about half of the respondents said they panic because of curiosity about COVID-19. It is an irony that online media, which contributes to the panic is also a source of information on COVID-19 and platform to work from home.
... d Ogbodo et al., 2020. e Kilgo et al. (2019). expresses more accurately the Filipino idea of solidarity which is looking out for one another. ...
... Of course, this does not suggest that the public should be concerned about any disease outbreak. The contrast between the Ebola outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic offers a good set of comparisons here (Kilgo et al., 2019). When media either overly amplify or attenuate the risk of a communicable disease, public risk perception may be steered in a direction that is not conducive for disease control and prevention (Kasperson et al., 1988). ...
Building on construal level theory, results from a survey based on a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (N = 1000) indicate an indirect effect of social distance and temporal distance perception on emotional response, policy support, and vaccination intention through risk perception. This study also reveals that social dominance orientation contributes to perceived psychological distance of the monkeypox outbreak. These results suggest that communication about a public health crisis such as monkeypox needs to emphasize its broader community impact, rather than focusing on the primary population affected.
... It becomes a significant tool helping in guiding people as well as it reduces the uncertainty and anxiety. Here, the credibility and authenticity of the information is important as fake or misleading news might spread panic and chaos among the public (Kilgo, Yoo & Johnson, 2019). It has been observed that mass media plays a key role in health crisis communication. ...
Information seeking through the media (mainstream and social media) plays a pivotal role in affecting health behavior of a population at risk during a health crisis. Health Belief Model (HBM) has been widely used to understand and analyze health behavior through its variables including (perceived) knowledge, susceptibility, severity, motivation, self-efficacy, benefits, barriers and cues to action. This study investigates the relationship of information seeking through TV and Facebook with various HBM variables on population of province of Punjab (Pakistan) during Covid-19 pandemic 2019-20. Data were collected through modified Champion Scale (Champion, 1993) from a sample of one thousand respondents selected through simple random sampling technique via online google forms. It is found that for both TV and Facebook correlation coefficient is significant between information seeking and all HBM variables except Facebook with perceived knowledge and benefits. The values of coefficient indicate overall weak correlations however TV has more powerful correlation than Facebook. For HBM variables, respondents do not perceive covid-19 as a severe threat. Moreover, it is found that citizens give preference to get information from international sources as compared to governments (federal and provincial) and reporters and anchors that stand last for seeking information to modify health behavior for covid-19 pandemic in Punjab, Pakistan.
... While one might hope that media coverage of a pandemic would assist public and expert news audiences in accurately understanding the risks of infection and steps necessary to avoid infection, health news is often sensationalized and exaggerated (Haglin et al. 2020;Smith 2006;Rezza et al. 2004;Wilson, Thomson, and Mansoor 2004;Cortiñas-Rovira, Pont-Sorribes, and Alonso-Marcos 2015;Kilgo, Yoo, and Johnson 2019). This is a fact not lost on news audiences. ...
Context:
Previous research has established the importance of primary care physicians in communicating public health directives. The implicit assumption is that, because of their expertise, doctors provide accurate and up-to-date information to their patients, independent of partisan affiliation or media trust.
Methods:
Using an online survey of 625 primary care physicians, this paper tests (1) whether physicians trust media outlets consistent with their partisanship and (2) whether trust in media outlets influences (a) personal concern someone in their family will get sick; (b) perceptions about the seriousness of the pandemic as portrayed in the media; and (c) trust in federal government agencies and scientists.
Findings:
While physicians are better positioned to critically evaluate health-related news, they are subject to the same biases that influence public opinion. Physicians' partisan commitments influence media trust and media trust influences concern a family member will get sick, perceptions regarding the seriousness of the pandemic, and trust in federal government agencies and scientists.
Conclusions:
Physician trust in specific media outlets shapes their understanding of the pandemic and- to the extent that they trust conservative media outlets-may limit their effectiveness as health policy messengers.
... This power is manifested dramatically during a crisis (Ghassabi & Zare-Farashbandi, 2015) as the media can inform, dissipate wrong information, or inject fear through headlines. In the report of Kilgo et al. (2019), the media significantly contributes to the amount of anxiety by emphasizing news stories that provoke fear. Poirier, Ouellet, Rancourt, Bechard, and Dufresne (2020) said that "audience perception of crisis is often to be shaped, or altered, by journalists." ...
Millennials are branded as the most powerful consumer segment. They can even spend their entire income to purchase goods or experiences. This changed when COVID-19 hammered the world. The enthusiastic shoppers became indifferent due to uncertainties. As consumers, including the most powerful consumer segment stopped behaving the way they used to, industries around the world continue to struggle, most especially non-essential retail sectors. This study aimed to provide retailers of shopping goods information about Millennials, their spending practices, the values they have, their attitude towards pandemic protocols, and their current lifestyle. Furthermore, as this group is highly heterogeneous, this study also provided retailers newly formed segments because of COVID-19. This study is a descriptive-correlational study. The data were gathered using a hybrid survey questionnaire distributed to infrastructure Millennial workers in Region 12. The main statistical tool used was hierarchical cluster analysis. The study concluded that there are three segments: The Balanced Workers, The Independent and Efficient Workers, and The Confident Workers. These segments have different characteristics in terms of spending, values, attitude, and lifestyles. It is recommended that shopping good retailers and marketing practitioners should adjust their marketing plans and strategies to address such changes in the buying behavior.
... This may be the result of a few different factors. One, the legacy media channels are all broadcast news networks, which have been criticized in the past for sensationalized reporting and needlessly elevating fear (Kilgo et al., 2019;Slattery et al., 2001). Further, most of the high reliability media channels included in the measure are generally considered elite publications, which may result in journalistic decisions that prioritize tempered language (e.g., NYT, WSJ, BBC) (Carpenter, 2007). ...
To develop a new measure of preferred sources for risk information, two studies asked respondents to indicate what channels they were reliant on for information about COVID‐19, from 25 news channels ranging across the political spectrum. Unexpectedly, dependencies clustered around level of reliability rather than the political orientation of the news channel. In other words, each cluster included media channels from both the left and right side of the political spectrum, while dependencies clustered into sources that varied by the degree to which their content is reliable. Participants who turned to lower reliability channels indicated lower risk perceptions, less accurate probability estimations, reduced vaccination intentions, and lower protective behavioral intentions. Those inclined to use higher reliability channels indicated higher risk perceptions, more accurate probability estimations, increased vaccination intentions, and higher protective behavioral intentions. These relationships are discussed in terms of implications for our understanding of source reliance and risk perception, information sufficiency, and implications for both future research and public health interventions.
... Previous studies have identified multiple online platforms as effective tools to understand and monitor public responses to health crises [3][4][5][6][7][8] . Among which, Reddit is known as a news-oriented social media, and its users are often advanced and transparent on various topics compared to other social media [9,10]. ...
Soon after the initial report of cases from the United Kingdom, monkeypox has spread internationally. Given the overall low awareness of this disease in the U.S., our study is among the first to explore how individuals’ information seeking and sharing about monkeypox is associated with its geographical differences in community transmission. Specifically, we examine how individuals in different states engage in information searching and sharing about monkeypox (using Google Trends and Reddit) and whether/how these online activities are associated with the geographical differences in confirmed cases across states. Our research questions are 1) with each state as the unit, does the ranking of search interest/frequency match the ranking of locally confirmed cases? 2) what monkeypox-related topics and queries were searched the most in Google Trends? 3) how much do individuals use Reddit to share their concerns and experiences about monkeypox? Preliminary results revealed a mismatch between the rank of monkeypox searching frequency and the rank of locally confirmed cases - individuals who reside in relatively higher-risk areas do not necessarily engage in more searching. Using Google Trends, we found the top 3 “monkeypox” related topics are: Monkeypox, Medical sign, and Vaccine. The top 3 “monkeypox” related queries are “is monkeypox”, “monkeypox symptoms”, and “monkeypox vaccine”. Our findings also indicated an absence of sizable monkeypox discussions on Reddit.
... The media clamour and broadcasting of the disturbing visible pox disfigurements will undoubtedly heighten concerns further. Social media misinformation is likely to fuel public anxiety, as we have seen with the recent COVID19 pandemic as well as past epidemics such as Ebola in 2014 [4]. ...
... Social media offer multiple venues for vilifying outsiders, distorting threats, and mobilizing resentment, and, as a result, become "instruments of panic production" (Walsh 2020). With the scarce gate-keeping measures, user-generated news aggregators and discussion venues, such as Reddit, are much more likely to amplify panic and spread public health-related misinformation than mainstream media (Kilgo, Yoo and Johnson 2019). While Depoux et al. (2020) claim that social media "can and should be harnessed to support the public health response" such as communicating the reasons for quarantines, providing practical advice, or pre-empting rumors, they still recognize the potential of social media to spread misinformation. ...
This study explores how three influential media outlets in Poland covered the emerging controversies around AstraZeneca vaccine in mid-March 2021. We find that the coverage was characterized by a focus on risk reporting and a relatively high level of sensationalism, which was confirmed through a content analysis and a news values discourse analysis. Given the outlets’ different editorial lines, we also traced the advocacy behind each outlet’s coverage, and the degree to which it was politicized (as opposed to science-topicalized). We present these findings in the context of media panic theory (in line with research on media generated “health scares” and other “crises”), and risk-laden science communication patterns typical of the profit-seeking media companies. We note that journalistic practices that thrive on exaggerating uncertainty and risk may well lead to public health crises, especially when such frames get then replicated by social media.
... For instance, adjusting communication practices to information seeking behaviors that emerge in a state of uncertainty was described as one efficient means of managing uncertainty during the HIV epidemic [27]. Additionally, reflections from previous pandemics showed that inconsistent and ineffective information concerning scientific uncertainty in narratives from the WHO and news coverage can increase the anxiety of affected populations, further highlighting the gaps in our knowledge about communicating uncertainty [28][29][30]. ...
Background
During outbreaks, uncertainties experienced by affected communities can influence their compliance to government guidance on public health. Communicators and authorities are, hence, encouraged to acknowledge and address such uncertainties. However, in the midst of public health crises, it can become difficult to define and identify uncertainties that are most relevant to address. We analyzed data on COVID-19-related uncertainties from four socio-economic contexts to explore how uncertainties can influence people’s perception of, and response to Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) strategies.
Results
This qualitative study, which adopts an interpretative approach, is based on data from a documentary review, key informant interviews (KII), and focus group discussions (FGD) with members of the general public and people with barriers to information from Germany, Guinea, Nigeria, and Singapore. Transcripts from the KII and FGD were coded and analyzed thematically. We interviewed a total of 155 KIs and conducted 73 FGD. Our analysis uncovered a divergence between uncertainties deemed relevant by stakeholders involved in policy making and uncertainties that people reportedly had to navigate in their everyday lives and which they considered relevant during the pandemic. We identified four types of uncertainties that seemed to have influenced people’s assessment of the disease risk and their trust in the pandemic control strategies including RCCE efforts: epidemiological uncertainties (related to the nature and severity of the virus), information uncertainties (related to access to reliable information), social uncertainties (related to social behavior in times of heightened risk), and economic uncertainties (related to financial insecurities).
Conclusion
We suggest that in future outbreaks, communicators and policy makers could improve the way in which affected communities assess their risk, and increase the trust of these communities in response efforts by addressing non-epidemiological uncertainties in RCCE strategies.
... Seale et al., 2020;Taylor-Clark et al., 2005). Misinformation or sensationalization by information sources (see Li et al., 2020) could hinder the effective management of health emergencies and amplify fear and panic Patel et al., 2020; see Kilgo et al., 2019). ...
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Government of India imposed a nationwide lockdown of 21 days on May 25, 2020, which was extended thrice to a total of 68 days. Mandatory quarantine could hamper mental well-being, trust in the government, and compliance with guidelines. This study looks in-depth at individual accounts during the lockdown (phase A) and after the “unlock” (lifting of the nationwide lockdown; phase B) using telephonic interviews. Mass job loss and the exodus of migrant workers from major cities highlighted the need to include low-income groups in research; hence, purposive sampling was used. We interviewed 45 participants in phase A and 35 participants in phase B; the latter was drawn from the phase A pool based on availability and willingness. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Analysis revealed four themes of participants’ experiences, namely: (1) transitioning from a disrupted normal to a “new normal”; (2) accountability and lack of trust; (3) fear and uncertainty; and (4) perceived lack of control. Within the themes, coping with stressors was observed in six broad categories: (1) distraction, (2) escape/avoidance, (3) positive cognitive restructuring, (4) problem solving, (5) seeking support, and (6) religious coping. Results enabled the drawing of parallels and contrasts between various socioeconomic, religious, and sexual/gender groups and were discussed from the lens of cognitive appraisal theory and coping. The implications of these findings in psychological crisis intervention and policy are discussed, pointing toward the need to allow a collaborative effort and mutual trust to build a resilient society.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic · Lockdown in India · Longitudinal study · Psychological impact · Coping · Thematic analysis
... As the crisis moves into the assessment phase, where the overall consequences of the disaster and the effectiveness of relief efforts are evaluated and causes and responsible parties are considered, blame often "takes precedence over credit" (Jin et al., 2012: 270). The acceleration of blame in public discourse can in turn generate public outrage and criticism of leading organizations for failing to control the crisis or prevent it (Jin et al., 2012;Kilgo et al., 2019). In addition, rumors, misinformation, and harmful information also proliferate online during the crisis (Na et al., 2018), posing another challenge for crisis managers to manage the flow and quality of information. ...
This paper examines how online expressions about Dr Li Wenliang became a public opinion incident in China and how the regime adjusted its internet censorship and emotional governance. We find that public perception of Li changed from a rumormonger to a whistleblower, a victim of structural causes, and a martyr of the nation, with collective emotions shifting from feelings of uncertainty to outrage, panic, and grief. Reassured by the state's crisis management and by positive stories of solidarity and resilience, the public then moved to a xenophobic discourse of crisis nationalism with feelings of hope, vindication, and pride. Meanwhile, public trust in the state grew as the regime delegated responsibility to local governments and perpetuated itself as a paternalistic, responsive, and effective leader through an authoritarian participatory propaganda. We argue that the pandemic spawned an emerging crisis nationalism that fed into the regime's crisis management and propaganda.
... There is potential to positively influence vaccine behavior and rapidly knowledge-share, however it is also a space where falsehoods have been spread [4]. For example, during the Ebola crisis, fear was spread via social media causing widespread, unnecessary panic [5]. During this current pandemic, disinformation campaigns surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine have been disseminated throughout online platforms [6,7]. ...
... Afreen Faiza*, Aymen Munazza** * Ilma University Formerly IBT, Karachi, Pakistan, ** Aisha Steel Mills Limited, Karachi, Pakistan fear about epidemic than epidemic itself 26,27,28 creates pressing need to carry out covid-19 related investigations in LMICs to effectively comprehend situation. 25 It is necessary to cater to the psychological issues of individuals to effectively manage and control any pandemic situations. ...
Background
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is characterized by decreased CD4 cell count leading to opportunistic infections (OIs) and tumors. We have evaluated clinical profile, frequency and factors affecting the diagnostic delay of patients presenting with advanced HIV in Indus Hospital Karachi. There are limited studies in Pakistan which has evaluated risk factors for acquiring HIV infection therefore, this study was conducted.
Methods
A retrospective study was done at the Indus Hospital Karachi, from January to December 2017. All patients presenting with advanced HIV were included in the study. Clinical profile, frequency and factors affecting the diagnostic delay were evaluated.
Results
During study period 248, HIV patients were registered, of which 56(23%) had advanced HIV. Out of 56 patients, one was excluded due to Chronic Liver Disease. 45(82%) were male, 8(15%) were female and 2(4%) were transgender. Weight loss was the commonest symptom, followed by fever and loose stools. All patients had been visiting multiple health-care professionals before their final diagnosis was made. Among risk factors, exposure to female sex workers (34.9%) found to be commonest risk factor followed by injection drug use. Among the factors responsible for diagnostic delay, 94.5 % was missed diagnosis from health-care professionals, followed by lack of awareness from patients. Pallor was the commonest clinical examination finding, followed by oral thrush and lymphadenopathy. Hepatitis C was the most common coinfection, followed by syphilis and hepatitis B. Candidiasis was the most common opportunistic infection (27%), seven had oral candidiasis, seven had esophageal candidiasis and one had extensive gastrointestinal candidiasis. PCP (Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) was the second most common opportunistic infection present in eleven 20%, followed by CMV (Cytomegalovirus) infection, MAC (Mycobacterium avium complex) colitis, cryptococcal meningitis and toxoplasmosis. Thirteen (23.2%) patients had other infections. 31 patients were followed, 12 were lost to follow-up, 8 died; 5 of PCP (Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia), 1 of cryptococcal meningitis, 2 of unknown cause while 4 were transferred to other facilities.
Conclusion
Advanced HIV represent about one third of all HIV patients. Weight loss was the commonest feature followed by fever and loose stools. Exposure to female sex workers was commonest risk factor for acquiring infection. Missed diagnosis was the commonest factor affecting the diagnostic delay.
... During a health crisis, when demand for information increases significantly, sharing HRI on social media also soars. Social media and Internet usage can translate a health crisis into a hot social crisis, which is spread publicly and rapidly across communities (Kilgo et al. 2018). In a worsening situation, social media and other interactive online can fuel the information problems by transmitting misinformation and negative emotion (e.g., Chen et al. 2018). ...
During a health crisis, prosocial sharing of health-related information (HRI) on social media can help to deliver early warnings about new diseases, raise social awareness, exchange support, and spread health policies. Current literature has mainly focused on the factors of general sharing of HRI under normal conditions but neglected those motivations under the health crisis context. This research aims to investigate factors that influence online users’ prosocial sharing of HRI during a health crisis. To obtain the objective, this study developed a dual helping-protecting motivation model from the fear appeal model and social exchange theory. The partial least squares analysis, carried out on the surveyed data of 326 participants, revealed that prosocial sharing intention is affected by protecting factors (i.e., sharing efficacy, response efficacy) and helping factors (i.e., reciprocity expectation). Additionally, both perceived health risk and perceived information quality risk were found to influence the sharing intention via motivational factors.
... Finally, media coverage can play a key role in moderating the COVID-CSR disclosure relationship since it can exert a great deal of influence on corporate behaviour in general, and on disclosure in particular (Zaman, Bahadar, Kayani, & Arslan, 2018). Note that Kilgo, Yoo, and Johnson (2019) argue that during crisis times, traditional news outlets contribute to public fear and panic, emphasising risks and uncertainties. To deal with such uncertainties, managers can increase their CSR disclosure through companies' press releases. ...
Purpose
Stakeholders' uncertainty about firms' value drives their urge to get information, as well as managerial disclosure choices. In this study, the authors examine whether and how an important source of uncertainty – the recent COVID-19 pandemic's effect on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure – is beyond managerial and stakeholders' control.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop a novel construct for daily CSR disclosure by employing computer-aided text analysis (CATA) on the press releases issued by 125 New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) listed from 28 February 2020 to 31 December 2020. To capture COVID-19 intensity, the authors use the growth rate of the population-adjusted cumulative sum of confirmed cases in New Zealand on a specific day. To examine the association between the COVID-19 outbreak and companies' CSR disclosure, the authors employed ordinary least squares (OLS) regression by clustering standard error at the firm level.
Findings
The authors find a one standard deviation increase in the COVID-19 outbreak leads to a 28% increase in such disclosures. These results remained robust to a series of sensitivity tests and continue to hold after accounting for potential endogeneity concerns. In the channel analysis, the study demonstrates that the positive relationship between COVID-19 and CSR disclosure is more pronounced in the presence of a well-structured board (i.e. a large, more independent board and with a higher proportion of women on it). In further analysis, the authors find the documented relationship varies over the pandemic's life cycle and is moderated by government stringency response, peer CSR pressure and media coverage.
Originality/value
This paper is the first study that contributes to the scant literature examining the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on CSR disclosure. Prior research either investigates the relationship of the CSR-stock return during the COVID-19 market crisis or examines the relationship between corporate characteristics including the quality of financial information and the reactions of stock returns during COVID-19. The authors extend such studies by providing empirical evidence that managers respond to COVID-19 by increasing CSR disclosure.
... The media has the power to shape public opinion about health through frames that may directly or indirectly prioritise one issue over the other without the conscious knowledge of the information receivers (Dorfman & Krasnow, 2014;Kilgo et al., 2018;Ogbodo et al., 2020). The examination of news frames also extends to the area of crisis communication in a pandemic . ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the public health, as well as the economic and sociocultural dimensions of many societies. By publishing news with various frames, the media plays an informative and discursive role in ensuring that the public stay informed and help one another in containing the virus and alleviating the adverse effects of the pandemic. This paper aims to explore the crisis communication elements in the media framing of COVID-19 in Bangladesh. The contents of two major dailies, The Daily Star and The Business Standard, were analysed to determine the framing of COVID-19 news. For the study period, 34 news stories that met the inclusion criteria were selected for analysis. The analysis of data reveals that COVID-19 was framed using the following frames: mortality-casualty, treatment-management, active-participation, collective-altruistic narratives, economic crisis, international relations, and fake news. The study also demonstrates that these identified frames have crisis communication elements that may be effective in crafting messages to address the pandemic with implications for public health interventions. The paper argues that news framing has a crucial function during a pandemic in ensuring that the news reports foster discourses among the media, government, and the public, to shape public health policies for the greatest good of the society.
... Responding to public health threats like an epidemic requires a multi-faceted approach that involves policies aimed at curtailing the spread, as well as informing diverse publics in ways that recognize the differing risks and baseline values of different groups. Risk communication strategies tend to downplay emotions or assume that the public experiences overwhelming panic and fear during a crisis (Kilgo et al., 2019;Ungar, 1998), while direct research on the public's emotions during a crisis is more mixed (Johnson, 1988(Johnson, , 2017. Feelings of fear, as well as anger, compassion, and humor, might be inevitable in the complex discussions that surround a public health threat. ...
In this article, we examine how humor practices on Twitter resist dominant emotion norms during an emerging disease outbreak. Humor may seem frivolous or irreverent but can constitute a powerful practice for channeling and managing difficult emotions - like anxiety and fear - during an outbreak. We find that the use of AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) and Black cultural references were widespread in Ebola-related tweets using humor. Together these communicative practices constitute Black Twitter. Humor can signal membership in Black culture while also performing and managing specific emotions in relation to epidemic risk in online spaces. Humor practices on Black Twitter were more likely to reimagine social connections despite the risks posed by the epidemic, whereas mainstream forms of humor emphasized retreat and self-isolation in response to an epidemic threat. These findings center the agency and creativity of this influential digital community while showing the variability of communication practices among a group facing disproportionate vulnerability to outbreaks and public health threats. The implications for public health messaging are discussed.
... In representing these events, media outlets create concepts and images relating to communities, places and countries; assign a specific definition to an event; connect their interpretation to selected event-linked information; and present evidence about events to promote, strengthen, legitimise and naturalise this interpretation (Erjavec 2001;Gabore 2020). News coverage of disease can be traced back to the representations of AIDS (Sontag 1989), while subsequent diseases like SARS and Ebola also attracted widespread media attention (Joye 2010;Kilgo, Yoo, and Johnson 2018;Tian and Stewart 2005). ...
During the current worldwide pandemic, media coverage of COVID-19 influenced popular perceptions and provided guidance on how to deal with the crisis. However, prior research may have been limited by a singular approach and the portrayal of COVID-19 in mainstream newspapers in China has not been fully explored. This study utilised mixed-methods research, incorporating automated analysis (n = 308 articles) and manual (n = 52 articles) thematic analysis to unravel and illustrate the prominent topics and themes in China Daily. The results showed that although China Daily initially depicted COVID-19 as a “bane”, it has since portrayed it as a relative “boon.” Positive themes were identified, like prosociality, cooperation, pandemic recovery and informativeness, while themes of political tension emerged, like Occidentalism. The current study advances our understanding of COVID-19 news representations by harnessing mixed-methods research, which reduces subjective bias and offers a more complete picture. Moreover, it is significant in helping to understand journalistic practice and how China, a state-controlled and ideology-dominated mediascape, has depicted COVID-19 while facing international stigma, conspiracy and blame.
... In the era of social media, the evolution of public sentiments during the COVID-19 pandemic are highly complex and need to be empirically determined [7]. For example, discourse on social media can intensify negative public sentiments because much of what is propagated there is exaggerated, such as the potential threats of the disease [8]. Online fake news and biased comments are also circulated with ease [5,9], biasing public sentiments toward the disease. ...
Background
Public sentiments are an important indicator of crisis response, with the need to balance exigency without adding to panic or projecting overconfidence. Given the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have enacted various nationwide measures against the disease with social media platforms providing the previously unparalleled communication space for the global populations.
Objective
This research aims to examine and provide a macro-level narrative of the evolution of public sentiments on social media at national levels, by comparing Twitter data from India, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States during the current pandemic.
Methods
A total of 67,363,091 Twitter posts on COVID-19 from January 28, 2020, to April 28, 2021, were analyzed from the 5 countries with “wuhan,” “corona,” “nCov,” and “covid” as search keywords. Change in sentiments (“very negative,” “negative,” “neutral or mixed,” “positive,” “very positive”) were compared between countries in connection with disease milestones and public health directives.
Results
Country-specific assessments show that negative sentiments were predominant across all 5 countries during the initial period of the global pandemic. However, positive sentiments encompassing hope, resilience, and support arose at differing intensities across the 5 countries, particularly in Asian countries. In the next stage of the pandemic, India, Singapore, and South Korea faced escalating waves of COVID-19 cases, resulting in negative sentiments, but positive sentiments appeared simultaneously. In contrast, although negative sentiments in the United Kingdom and the United States increased substantially after the declaration of a national public emergency, strong parallel positive sentiments were slow to surface.
Conclusions
Our findings on sentiments across countries facing similar outbreak concerns suggest potential associations between government response actions both in terms of policy and communications, and public sentiment trends. Overall, a more concerted approach to government crisis communication appears to be associated with more stable and less volatile public sentiments over the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.
... Afreen Faiza*, Aymen Munazza** * Ilma University Formerly IBT, Karachi, Pakistan, ** Aisha Steel Mills Limited, Karachi, Pakistan fear about epidemic than epidemic itself 26,27,28 creates pressing need to carry out covid-19 related investigations in LMICs to effectively comprehend situation. 25 It is necessary to cater to the psychological issues of individuals to effectively manage and control any pandemic situations. ...
Objective
The emerging epidemic coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis rattled
nearly every sphere of life across all over the globe, aim of the
study was to explore fears produced due to the swift spread of
the deadly virus among residents of Karachi city, Pakistan.
Method
A 10–item Coronavirus Fear Questionnaire (CVFQ) with good
reliability (a=.75, p<.01) purposely constructed based on
informal interviews from the general population and administered
on (N=264) participants invited via an online Google based
survey.
Results
Outcomes showed the prevalence of fears related to the infection
to oneself (76.5%), family (84.5%), contagious transmissions
(62.9%), death of loved ones (72.3%), financial constraints
(80.7%), increase in prices (85.2%), disease rumors (80.7%),
restriction of mobility (71.2%), and social rejections (61.7%).
Conclusion
It was concluded that residents of Karachi possess different
fears related to COVID-19, which warrants appropriate psychosocial attention.
Keywords
Coronavirus, Questionnaire, Reliability, Fears, Karachi, Pakistan
... Even if it has not benefited from the same research effort by the authors as the two previous ones and was not initially planned as a research topic in the H2020 ODYCCEUS project, it offers an interesting research perspective on the concept of crisis and, as we will demonstrate, present a theoretical example of perturbation of the international geopolitical agenda at the global scale during the period of analysis (from the Ebola crisis in 2014 to the COVID crisis). Many previous research in media studies has revealed strong differences between media from "North" and "South" concerning the coverage of the Ebola crisis of 2014 (Kilgo et al., 2018;Pieri, 2019) or the Zika crisis of 2016 (Bragazzi et al., 2017;Ribeiro et al., 2018). However, the COVID-19 crisis appears to be a much more exceptional crisis that has completely modified the media agenda in 2020. ...
This study proposes a geopolitical analysis of opinion dynamics based on a statistical exploration of a press dataset covering 2014–2019. This exploration questions three case studies of geopolitical and international interest: international migration, political borders, and pandemics. Through the framework of geopolitical agenda, the aim of this study is to question the “crisis” status of changes in the media coverage of the three topics in a cross-analysis and multilingual analysis of 20 western European newspapers. It concludes that there is a prevalence of national agendas.
... The media play a decisive role in the transmission of reliable and scientific information, especially when it comes to public health issues, since it is in these contexts that the interest in being informed increases (WESTLUND, GHERSETTI, 2015). The current context requires that both journalists and medical personnel join together to transmit information on prevention and care against the virus, thus avoiding panic and anxiety in the population (LUBENS, 2015); however, studies such as that of KILGO et al. (2019) have shown that there is a tendency for the media to contribute to these phenomena instead of fighting them. ...
The present study aims to determine the relationship between the perception of the information transmitted by mass media about Covid-19 and the fatalism originated by the pandemic in university students of Lima city. The composition of the population was 6,500 students, from which it was extracted a sample of 655 subjects, 310 males and 345 females, with ages between 16 and 32 years old (mean of 19.50 and standard deviation of 3.08) extracted from the first two cycles of four private universities and one public university of the city of Lima, by virtual way, in June 2020. The study is of non-experimental design at the relational level. The result obtained shows that there is a relationship between the perception of the information transmitted by the media about Covid-19 and the fatalism caused by the pandemic. The Spearman correlation is 0.238. The effect size is 0.4978. The statistical power is 0.9542, and these results can be generalized to the entire population of university students in the city of Lima.
... Hal ini terlihat selama wabah Ebola 2014-2015 di Afrika Barat, di mana "wabah penyakit" lebih buruk daripada epidemi itu sendiri dalam hal jumlah orang yang terkena (Desclaux, Diop, & Doyon, 2017). Ketakutan publik yang berlebihan terhadap Ebola bahkan muncul di Amerika Serikat meskipun hanya ada sedikit atau tidak ada risiko penularan (Danielle K Kilgo, Joseph Yoo, 2018;Wendy E Parmet, 2017). Situasi serupa muncul selama wabah SARS 2003. ...
Artikel ini membahas pentingnya mengenali dan memahami dasar emosi dalam diri, khususnya dalam konteks pandemi. Mengenal emosi, merupakan upaya individu untuk merespon apa yang terjadi pada dirinya. Respon ini bersifat alamiah dan natural terjadi pada manusia, tetapi jika kita bisa mengenali dan mengelolanya maka akan besar dampaknya terhadap kehidupan kesehatan mental sehari-hari. Artikel ini merupakan bagian dari upaya mengedukasi masyarakat dalam betuk pengabdian masyarakat menggunakan metode service learning. Diharapkan dengan mengenali dan memahami dasar-dasar psikologis individu dalam merespon melalui emosi, masyarakat Indonesia bisa lebih sejahtera dan bahagia walaupun dalam kondisi pandemi.
WhatsApp is India’s most popular social media application and has emerged as a valuable tool for health and risk communication during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). Public health institutions,WHO and Government agencies used WhatsApp Health Alert to distribute verified, accurate and timely information during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines the potential of WhatsApp as a primary source of health and risk information and its impact on users’ risk knowledge and risk perception during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey among 453WhatsApp users in Tamil Nadu during the COVID-19 lockdown in May-August 2021. Most of the respondents used WhatsApp as the primary source of COVID-19 information than other media. COVID-19 information in WhatsApp had a positive and significant impact on users’ risk knowledge and risk perception. Regularly receiving and sharing COVID-19 information, subscribing to and participating in COVID-19-related group chats, and regularly updating WhatsApp statuses about COVID-19 were significant influencers of risk knowledge and risk perception. Future PHE response communication must build on these communication opportunities in WhatsApp rather than routed primarily to traditional methods.
ترمي هذه الدراسة إلى تحليل الرّسائل الاتصاليّة لعددٍ من المَواقع الإخبارية العالميّة على شبكة تويتر وذلك عن طريق تحليلِ شكل ومضمون عيّنة من تغريدات تويتر، لتقديم نتائجَ وصفيّة توضِّحُ طُرق تعامل تلك المؤسسات الإعلامية في أثناء الأزمة المتعلقة بانتشار فايروس كورونا. تمَّ اختيار عيّنة الدراسة بطريقة عمديّة، فقد وقع في الاختيار ثلاثُ وسائل إخبارية: وسيلتانِ من الوسائل العالميّة الأكثر متابعة والأكثر احترافية وشهرة على مستوى العالم، فكانت النيويورك تايمز وسيلة من الولايات المتحدة، والجارديان وسيلة من المملكة المتحدة، ووسيلة عربية واحدة هي قناة العربيّة بوصفها احدى أكثر القنوات الرسميّة شهرة (von Nordheim, Boczek, & Koppers, 2018, p. 13)، وذلك لمتابعة الأساليب التي يتم استخدامها في تغطية الأخبار في أثناء الأزمة. تم تحليل مجموع 18,085 تغريدة للحسابات الثلاث في أثناء المدة من (1/3/2020) إلى (8/ 4/ 2020) من عام 2020. تم استخدام استمارة تحليل مضمون لتحليل محتوى التغطيات الإخبارية. وأشارت النتائج إلى وجود ارتفاع في نسبة الأخبار السلبيّة المُتعلقة بالأزمة في التغطيات الإخبارية، واهتمامٍ أقل بالجوانب الصحيّة، في حين حظيت باهتمامٍ بالغ الأخبار المتعلقة بالجوانب السياسيّة للأزمة.
The widespread panic associated with media exposure is a serious challenge to worldwide governments in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, alleviating negative social emotions, particularly panic, is an urgent issue for the state media. By using the comments of a Weibo post from The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Youth League, drawing on the notion of extrinsic emotion regulation , this paper conducts a detailed analysis of negative emotions regulation through discourse strategies by the Chinese state media and their effects in the context of COVID-19. The results demonstrate that, by exploiting language strategies, the state media can arouse positive emotions amongst users, thus distract the public from experiencing negative emotions. In addition, the state media participate in online interactions, thereby creating positive public emotional spaces. This study indicates that digital platforms like Weibo, occasionally equipped with emotionalized narrative, are of significant value in the regulation of negative emotions in public crisis contexts.
Around the world, tabloid newspapers are routinely surrounded by a moral and cultural panic. They are criticised for lowering standards of journalism and privileging sensation above substance, diverting readers from serious news to entertainment, or foregoing ethical principles. However, scholarship about tabloids have also highlighted the ways in which these papers are frequently better attuned to their readers’ everyday lived experience. In South Africa, tabloid newspapers have also received much criticism in the past for their perceived superficial treatment of important news. This article examines South African tabloid newspapers’ coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic, focussing specifically on a case study of the national newspaper the Daily Sun. The national Daily Sun newspaper boasts the country’s largest circulation figures. Through a quantitative content analysis of 1050 online news stories in the Daily Sun, we found that unlike mainstream front-page news reporting which was largely episodic, negative and alarmist, the majority of Daily Sun coverage was thematic and neutral. Daily Sun news coverage countered Covid-19 related misinformation and provided contextual coverage, with a large focus on the social impacts of Covid-19. The analysis concludes that despite the popular discourse of the reporting, Daily Sun reporting on Covid-19 provided readers with access to information and a focus on the micro aspects of the pandemic versus broader political issues and the views of political or scientific elites.
For all humanity, the sudden outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019 has been an important problem. Timely and effective media coverage is considered to be one of the effective approaches to control the spread of epidemic in early stage. In this paper, a Sentiment‐enabled Susceptible‐Exposed‐Infected‐Recovered (SEIR) model is established to reveal the relationship between the propagation of the epidemic and media coverage. The authors take the positive and negative media coverage into consideration when implementing the Sentiment‐enabled SEIR model. This model is constructed by parameterizing the number of current confirmed cases, cumulative cured cases, cumulative deaths, and media coverage. The numerical simulation and sensitivity analysis are conducted based on the Sentiment‐enabled SEIR model. The numerical analysis confirms the rationality of the Sentiment‐enabled SEIR model. The sensitivity analysis shows that positive media coverage acts a pivotal part in reducing the figure for confirmed cases. Negative media coverage has an effect on the figure for confirmed cases is not as significant as that of positive media coverage, but it is not negligible.
Although journalists’ social media sourcing can empower non-elite sources and diversify public discussions, counterarguments maintain that social media sourcing relies on a small group of elites and reinforces social division. To contribute to that debate, we examined how health journalists from the mainstream news organizations in the U.S. used Twitter’s @mention for sourcing during the first three months of the COVID-19 outbreak. Using a sample of public Twitter posts published by the journalists, we formed co-@mentioned networks (i.e., two sources were connected if @mentioned in the same post) to examine the structure of the networks and identify important sourcing informants. Among the results, elite sources (e.g., health journalists and health experts in the public sector) and influential users (i.e., verified users with a large number of followers and who post frequently) dominated the sourcing repertoire. Moreover, the networks were fragmented because the sources were clustered into several close-knit subgroups. Analyzing exponential random graph models to examine the formation mechanism of the networks revealed that, as the pandemic’s severity increased, influential users played a more salient role in the sourcing repertoire, and a homogeneous cluster consisting of journalists and news organizations emerged.
This article analysed the real-time coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre by the three main Israeli newspapers at the time: Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Haaretz. It found that while there were noticeable differences in the coverage of the event by the three papers, all of them framed the massacre as integral part of the black-and-white confrontation between Israel and Arab terrorism. Paradoxically, this ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ dichotomy seems to have played into the perpetrators’ hands by casting them as part of a formidable global terrorist network rather than a small fringe group, on the one hand, and as a significant factor affecting the possible evolution of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, on the other.
We examined hashtag activism promoting Taiwan’s participation in the global efforts to combat COVID-19. We employed the computational Analysis of Topic Model Networks (ANTMN) to examine the discourse around the #TaiwanCanHelp/#TWforWHO campaign in 2020 ( N = 163,876) on Twitter. Our model identified 35 topics clustered within three frames. The containment frame emphasized strategies used to stop COVID-19’s spread in Taiwan. The geopolitics frame described China’s use of its international power to exclude Taiwan from the World Health Organization. The international cooperation frame emphasized Taiwan’s ability and efficacy to contribute to the global efforts to slow down COVID-19. These results extend our understanding of hashtag activism by examining the intersection of geopolitics and global health crises. We introduce the theoretical concept of a mutually beneficial coalition, one that points to detrimental impacts of oppression on both the oppressed and the allies who are asked to help.
Objective. Studying the vector of managing the organizational culture of the Russian internal affairs bodies during the COVID-19 period.Background. The work is aimed at studying the vector of managing the organizational culture of the internal affairs bodies through the formation of new “pictures of the world” and mental states of police officers as a result of the socio-psychological impact of information flows about COVID-19. Our earlier results of a longitudinal study from 2011 to 2019 made it possible to assert that the vector of development of the organizational culture of the Internal Affairs Directorate depends on the media, capable of creating new “pictures of the world” and influencing the formation of mental states of police officers, which are different from those desired and proclaimed by the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs when reforming the Internal Affairs Directorate in 2011. We believe that the scale of this socio-psychological phenomenon clearly manifested itself during the COVID-19 pandemic and the totality of the corresponding informational influence of the media, which determines the vector of managing the organizational culture of the internal affairs bodies.Study design. Against the background of the identified dynamics of social fears, mental states and the locus of control among police officers for the period of 2020 and 2021, their “picture of the world” was studied using multivariate factorial and cluster analysis.Participants. 335 police officers tested in both 2020 and 2021. Of these, 231 are men and 104 are women, 25 to 49 years old.Measurements. Author’s questionnaire on the degree of involvement in the content of the news and information tape about COVID-19; questionnaires: “Social fears” L.N. Grosheva; “The level of subjective control” by E.F. Bazhin and others; method for determining the dominant state of DS-8 L.V. Kulikova; author’s modification of C. Osgood’s semantic differential.Results. From the beginning of COVID-19 to mid-2021, ATS officers showed tendencies of a decrease in the level of subjective control and interest in the content of news about COVID-19, with the dynamics of the growth of the experience of social fears and the growing instability of mental states. organizational culture of the Department of Internal Affairs formed two types of employees. The first type with a trustful “picture of the world”, and the second with a threatening “picture of the world”. This polarity of the “picture of the world” in different types indicates a crisis in the functioning of the organizational culture of the internal affairs bodies.Conclusions. The long-term and intensive unstructured influence of the media in the context of negatively colored information about COVID-19, manifested in the dynamics of the growth of social fears and the heterogeneity of the policemen’s “picture of the world”, shows that the police department’s leadership is not fully the subject of changing the management vector of the organizational culture.
Munculnya pandemi COVID-19 di Indonesia menyebabkan dampak secara langsung maupun tidak langsung pada masyarakat. Dampak psikologis merupakan contoh dampak tidak langsung dari adanya pandemi ini. Masyarakat terpaksa harus mengisolasi diri, membatasi interaksi dengan orang lain, dan mengurangi berbagai kegiatan. Hal tersebut dapat memberikan dampak negatif pada kesehatan mental mereka. Oleh karena itu dibutuhkan intervensi agar hal tersebut tidak semakin memburuk. Dengan mendasarkan pada hal tersebut, studi ini bertujuan untuk melihat dampak psikologis dari adanya pandemi COVID-19 dan efektivitas telekonseling dalam meningkatkan kesehatan mental masyarakat Indonesia dalam situasi pandemi ini. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan memberikan survei dan wawancara kepada partisipan yang mengikuti layanan telekonseling Lembaga Psikologi X. Data yang diperoleh akan dianalisis secara tematik dengan pendekatan analisis induktif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pandemi COVID-19 menimbulkan kecemasan, psikosomatis, stres, serta permasalahan emosi, dan relasi. Hadirnya layanan konsultasi secara daring dapat membantu meningkatkan kesehatan mental selama pandemi COVID-19, akan tetapi dalam pelaksanaannya masih diperlukan beberapa peningkatan dan perbaikan.
Tüm dünyayı etkisi altına alan Covid-19 pandemisinin bireysel ve toplumsal düzeyde farklı etkilerinin olduğu ve yeni bir toplumsal düzene karşılık geldiği tartışılmazdır. Öyle ki üretim ve tüketim ilişkilerinin değişiminden gündelik ilişkilerimize kadar her birey ve kurum yeniden şekillenmiş ve kendi varoluşunu gerçekleştirmeye çalışmıştır. Özellikle pandeminin ne zaman sonlanacağı, aşılamanın seyri, işkollarında yaşanan değişimler, ev merkezli toplum ve esnek çalışma biçimleri tartışılan konu başlıklarını oluşturmuş ve belirsizlik durumunun varlığı toplumsal endişe ve kaygı hallerini beslemeye devam etmiştir. Pandeminin sonlandırılmasına yönelik alınan önlemler ve uygulanan kısıtlamalar politik bir karşıtlık olarak kullanılmış ve istihdam kaybı yaşayan, işyeri kapanan ya da istihdama erişim imkanı bulamayan toplumsal kesimler tarafından bir araç olarak tartışılmıştır. Bu perspektif içerisinde, çalışmada küresel risk unsuru olarak Covid-19 algısı ve ortaya çıkan toplumsal eğilimlerin belirlenmesi hedeflenmiştir. Bu amaçla bir sosyal medya platformu örneği olarak Twitter’da 11-16 Mart 2020 tarihleri aralığında içinde risk, tehlike ve belirsizlik kavramlarından herhangi birisinin kullanıldığı paylaşımlar içerik analizi tekniğinden faydalanılarak incelenmiştir. Yapılan çözümlemeler sonucunda Covid-19 pandemisi karşısında 5 farklı risk algısı ve sosyal tepkinin geliştiği belirlenmiş ve bunlar toplumsal kırılganlıkların yanı sıra dayanaklılıkların da göstergesi olarak değerlendirilmiştir
The aim of this seminal paper is the empirical analysis of geopolitical risk, economic policy uncertainty, financial stress, and infectious diseases’ impact on financial institutions’ stability at the country level. The quantitative research approach followed by regression analysis is employed using monthly time series data between January 2000 and January 2021. Separate models are performed for individual countries with and without control variables. The outcomes of this work suggest that geopolitical risk, economic policy uncertainty, financial stress, and infectious diseases hold adverse effects on the financial institutions’ stability. There is evidence of declining financial institutions’ stability with the rising level of predicting dimensions. The research is limited to the BRICS block but has paramount significance for literature enrichment and policymakers. The findings can assist decision-makers to plan for uncertain events disrupting the financial system. More rigorous research techniques can be levered to endorse the consistency of the evidence. The dimensions adopted in this study address the ongoing paradigm of research. The financial institutions’ stability at the country level is a value addition of this work with the selection of persistent and novel predictors of financial systems like financial stress and infectious diseases.
This article reviews the current state of knowledge and promising new directions concerning the psychology of pandemics. Pandemics are disease outbreaks that spread globally. Historically, psychological factors have been neglected by researchers and health authorities despite evidence that pandemics are, to a large extent, psychological phenomena whereby beliefs and behaviors influence the spreading versus containment of infection. Psychological factors are important in determining ( a) adherence to pandemic mitigation methods (e.g., adherence to social distancing), ( b) pandemic-related social disruption (e.g., panic buying, racism, antilockdown protests), and ( c) pandemic-related distress and related problems (e.g., anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief disorder). The psychology of pandemics has emerged as an important field of research and practice during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As a scholarly discipline, the psychology of pandemics is fragmented and diverse, encompassing various psychological subspecialties and allied disciplines, but is vital for shaping clinical practice and public health guidelines for COVID-19 and future pandemics.
Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, Volume 18 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Bu çalışmada Covid-19 açıkça bir kriz olarak betimlenmekte ve medya, siyasi tutum ve sağlık iletişimi bu krizin kaynakları olarak görülmektedir. Koronavirüs hastalığının diğer yaygın bilinen adıyla Covid-19’un hayatımıza girdiği günden beri televizyonlarda açıklanan vaka sayıları ve ölüm oranları, halkta yaratılan korku, panik ve endişe durumu, tıp doktorları ve konunun uzmanlarının günden güne değişen açıklamaları, yaşanan durumu krize çevirmiş ve iletişimde açıklık ve şeffaflık sağlanamamıştır. Sosyal medyada yaşanan bilgi kirliliği ile yanlış bilgi üretimi, virüsün yayılma hızından bile fazla olmuş, insanlar doğru kaynaklardan doğru bilgiye erişmede zorluklar yaşamıştır. Yaşanan halk sağlığı krizinin siyasi kişilikler tarafından politize edilmesi, virüsün yayılmasına yönelik alınan tedbirlere uyulmasını zorlaştırmıştır. Dünya üzerindeki bütün ülkelerin insan hayatını kurtarmakla ekonomiyi kurtarmak arasında bir seçim yapmak zorunda kalması, hastalık tehdidinin algılanan ciddiyetini doğrudan etkilemiştir. Bu çalışma sonucunda iletişimin merkeziyetine vurgu yapılmakta olup, dünyada yaşanan bu salgının etkin, önceden planlanan iletişim stratejileriyle yürütülmesi, bilim ile halk arasında yalın, anlaşılır ve amaca dönük iletişimin kurulması gerektiğinin altı çizilmektedir.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui gambaran motivasi kerja pegawai
Telkom kota Tangerang Selatan. Metode yang kami gunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode
kuantitatif. Responden pada penelitian ini berjumlah 120 orang dan semuanya merupakan pegawai
Telkom kota Tangerang Selatan. Teknik yang digunakan adalah Teknik pengumpulan data dengan
menyebar sejumlah kuesioner berisi 30 item pernyataan berdasarkan indikator teori dua factor
Frederick Herzberg. Dalam menganalisis data, kami menggunakan Teknik analisis data kuantitatif
deskriptif dengan JASP 13.0. Hasil analisis penelitian berdasarkan data yang dikumpulkan
menunjukkan bahwa gambaran motivasi kerja pegawai Telkom kota Tangerang Selatan cenderung
tinggi ( X = 102,295, SD =16,203). Hasil ini berdasarkan perbandingan antara nilai data empiric dan
nilai data teoritik yang didapat.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui gambaran motivasi kerja guru pegawai negeri sipil
sekolah menengah atas negeri di Jakarta pada masa pandemi Covid-19. Metode penelitian yang
digunakan adalah metode penelitian kuantitatif dengan responden guru pegawai negeri sipil sekolah
menengah atas negeri di Jakarta. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan menyebarkan kuesioner
motivasi kerja yang dikonstruksi berdasarkan teori dua faktor Frederick Herzberg. Teknik analisis data
pada penelitian ini menggunakan analisis statistik deskriptif. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa
gambaran motivasi kerja guru pegawai negeri sipil sekolah menengah atas negeri di Jakarta pada masa
pandemi Covid-19 adalah cenderung tinggi. Hal ini mengindikasikan bahwa dalam kondisi pandemi
dengan pembelajaran jarak jauh dan dengan berbagai keterbatasan mereka tetap memiliki motivasi
mengajar yang tinggi.
Bu çalışma kavramsal nitelikte olup, Mart 2020 yılından beri tüm dünyanın yaşamakta olduğu küresel halk sağlığı ile ilgili kapsamlı bir değerlendirme sunmaktadır. Geçen bir yıl içinde olup bitenlerin iktisadi yaşam, siyasi alan ve toplumsal etkiler olmak üzere üç ana başlık altında değerlendirildiği çalışmada salgından etkilenen her paydaşa önemli bazı içgörüler sunmaktadır. İktisadi yaşam kendi içinde dört alt başlıkta incelenmiş olup, koronavirüsün tüketim, sosyal medya, çevrimiçi alışveriş ve hizmet sektörü ile ekonomik göstergelere olan yansımasına değinilmiştir. Siyasi alan başlığında hükümet politikalarının halk nezdindeki karşılıkları değerlendirilmiş, uluslararası arenada ülkelerin bu kriz karşısında aldıkları aksiyonlara yer verilmiştir. Toplumsal etkiler başlığında ise sosyal ve psikolojik değişimler, kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk uygulamaları, iş etiği ve sosyal hayat ve akış alt başlıkları derinlikle ele alınmıştır. Küresel olarak yaşanan bu felaket her ne kadar bir halk sağlığı krizi olarak tanımlansa da salgının geniş çaplı etkileri bütün yönleriyle ele alınmalı ve sonuçları hakkında proaktif iletişim biçimleri benimsenmelidir. Yaklaşık 80 makalenin incelendiği bu çalışmada ilgili başlıklara ilişkin dünya literatürünün de bir derlemesi sunulmuştur.
As citizen journalism continues to increase in popularity, social news sites (i.e., websites where users produce the content) are also gaining prominence on the Internet. Nevertheless, there is little research about how social news sites function. One such website, known as Reddit, has a growing user base of more than 100 million individuals and has played an important role in distributing information about critical and current events. Through examining a major incident where Reddit was acknowledged as an important informational entity, this study analyzed varying characteristics of content posted on Reddit in order to determine whether the website, as it claims, has “freedom from the press,” or if it follows gatekeeping practices that are similar to those implemented by traditional media outlets.
Background:
Literature suggests that Americans may have higher levels of perceived threat to Ebola than are warranted.
Methods:
We surveyed 1018 U.S. adults from a nationally representative Internet panel about their knowledge, perceived threat, and behavioral intentions during the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
Results:
Eighty-six percent of respondents knew that Ebola could be transmitted through blood and bodily fluids. However, a large percentage had some inaccurate knowledge and 19 % believed Ebola would spread to the U.S. Respondents favored mandatory quarantine (63 %) and travel bans (55 %). Confidence in the ability of the media and government to accurately report on or prevent a U.S. epidemic was low. Fifty-two percent intended to engage in behaviors such as avoiding public transportation.
Discussion:
Despite low perceived susceptibility, half intended to engage in behaviors to prevent transmission and large numbers favored policies not currently recommended by health officials. The extreme nature of Ebola virus likely motivated people to engage in behaviors and favor policies that were not necessary given the low risk of transmission in the U.S.
Conclusions:
Health officials should ensure the public has accurate information about Ebola and bolster confidence in the government's ability to control infectious diseases in case of a future outbreak in the U.S.
The use of Internet in the health domain is becoming a major worldwide trend. Millions of citizens are searching online health information and also publishing content about their health. Patients are engaging with other patients in online communities using different types of social media. The boundaries between mobile health, social media, wearable, games, and big data are becoming blurrier due the integration of all those technologies. In this paper we provide an overview of the major research challenges with the area of health social media.
We use several study cases to exemplify the current trends and highlight future research challenges.
Internet is exploding and is being used for health purposes by a great deal of the population. Social networks have a powerful influence in health decisions. Given the lack of knowledge on the use of health social media, there is a need for complex multidisciplinary research to help us understand how to use social networks in favour of public health. A bigger understanding of social media will give health authorities new tools to help decision-making at global, national, local, and corporate level.
There is an unprecedented amount of data that can be used in public health due the potential combination of data acquired from mobile phones, Electronic Health Records, social media, and other sources. To identify meaningful information from those data sources it is not trial. Moreover, new analytics tools will need to be developed to analyse those sources of data in a way that it can benefit healthcare professionals and authorities.
This content analysis examined risk communication factors in news coverage of the 2001 anthrax attacks appearing in 833 stories from 272 newspapers, AP, NPR, and four national television networks (CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC). An exploratory framework posits that when outrage factors characterize crisis coverage, accompanying explanations mitigate negative public reactions by putting the hazard into a broader context. Stories that portrayed uncertainty — through conflicting reports, spe-culation, use of unnamed sources, and coverage of vague advice and hoaxes/false alarms — frequently contained outrage rhetoric. However, speculative coverage often contained explanations that helped to contextualize frightening circumstances.
The news media are an important source of information about new medical treatments, but there is concern that some coverage may be inaccurate and overly enthusiastic.
We studied coverage by U.S. news media of the benefits and risks of three medications that are used to prevent major diseases. The medications were pravastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug for the prevention of cardiovascular disease; alendronate, a bisphosphonate for the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis; and aspirin, which is used for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. We analyzed a systematic probability sample of 180 newspaper articles (60 for each drug) and 27 television reports that appeared between 1994 and 1998.
Of the 207 stories, 83 (40 percent) did not report benefits quantitatively. Of the 124 that did, 103 (83 percent) reported relative benefits only, 3 (2 percent) absolute benefits only, and 18 (15 percent) both absolute and relative benefits. Of the 207 stories, 98 (47 percent) mentioned potential harm to patients, and only 63 (30 percent) mentioned costs. Of the 170 stories citing an expert or a scientific study, 85 (50 percent) cited at least one expert or study with a financial tie to a manufacturer of the drug that had been disclosed in the scientific literature. These ties were disclosed in only 33 (39 percent) of the 85 stories.
News-media stories about medications may include inadequate or incomplete information about the benefits, risks, and costs of the drugs as well as the financial ties between study groups or experts and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The 2014 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Ice Bucket Challenge (IBC) received unprecedented attention by both news media and social media audiences. Using content analysis, this research examines how digital news utilized different news values and emotional appeals to cover the IBC. In addition, this work includes a secondary analysis that examines what coverage characteristics influenced social media audiences to share content on Facebook and Twitter. Results reveal that while celebrity participation and human interest stories were more likely to be covered, news values played a limited role in predicting audience sharing practices. Articles that use emotions in a story are more likely to entice sharing on Facebook than on Twitter.
This study explores the implications of the digital network society for public health communication and management through an empirical study on communication related to the transboundary haze crisis in Singapore. Using the Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF), the authors applied sentiment and thematic analysis on haze-related posts on an online discussion forum (HardwareZone) and a social networking site (Facebook), and to haze-related articles in The Straits Times (a newspaper). The study shows that the medium matters in social amplification of risk: Facebook had an effect on the amplification of emotions, while HardwareZone and The Straits Times did not. In addition, the results show that spikes in online risk amplification were strongly influenced by unprecedented events. They also suggest that anger expressed online may be linked to a sense of futility. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are provided in the conclusion.
Using a media systems dependency framework, this study looked at media location as a proxy for salience of the Ebola outbreaks in 2014. In unaffected markets where salience was lower, it was hypothesized that news stories would be more sensational and offer less efficacy information as compensation. A total of 1,275 nightly news stories originating from three affected and three unaffected U.S. markets were analyzed. Affected markets were defined as cities where a confirmed case emerged, was treated, or that housed an airport designated as one of the five ports of entry. Unaffected markets did not meet any of these criteria and were not in the same state as any city that did. A statistically significant difference in the average level of sensationalism between the two market types was found (t (1273) = 5.774, p < 0.001), with unaffected markets (M = 0.94, SD = 0.87) having a higher average level of sensationalism than affected markets (M = 0.67, SD = 0.76). There was no statistically significant difference seen in the inclusion of efficacy information between affected and unaffected markets. These findings highlight how specific story elements in news coverage of public health crises may be influenced by media location.
This article seeks to explain variation in news sharing patterns on social media. It finds that news editors have considerable power to shape the social media agenda through the use of “story importance cues” but also shows that there are some areas of news reporting (such as those related to crime and disasters) where this power does not apply. This highlights the existence of a social “news gap” where social media filters out certain types of news, producing a social media news agenda which has important differences from its traditional counterpart. The discussion suggests that this may be consequential for perceptions of crime and engagement with politics; it might even stimulate a partial reversal of the tabloidization of news outlets.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has recently been recognized as a newly emerging infectious disease that is highly contagious with significant morbidity and mortality. Earliest cases of SARS has been described in patients in Asia, North America, and Europe. Etiological agent of SARS is shown to be a coronavirus. Most coronaviruses cause disease in only one host species. All known coronaviruses are found in three serologically unrelated groups. A corona of large, distinctive spikes in the envelope makes possible the identification of coronaviruses by electron microscopy. In this way the first identification of agent was possible. Microbiologic and genetic analyses have shown that the SARS-associated coronavirus is neither a mutant nor a recombinant of any known coronaviruses. It is a previously unknown coronavirus, probably from a nonhuman host, that somehow acquired the ability to infect humans. Serologic tests of wild and domestic animals and birds in the region where the outbreak first appeared may identify the usual host. The incubation period for SARS is typically 2-7 days; however, isolated reports have suggested an incubation period as long as 10 days. The illness begins generally with a prodrome of fever (>38.0°C). Fever often is high, is sometimes associated with chills and rigors, and might be accompanied by other symptoms, including headache, malaise, and myalgia. At the onset of illness, some persons have mild respiratory symptoms. Typically, rash and neurologic or gastrointestinal findings are absent; however, some patients have reported diarrhea during the febrile prodrome. After 3-7 days, a lower respiratory phase begins with the onset of a dry, nonproductive cough or dyspnea, which might be accompanied by or progress to hypoxemia. In 10%-20% of cases, the respiratory illness is severe enough to require intubation and mechanical ventilation. The case-fatality rate among persons with illness meeting the current WHO case definition of SARS is approximately 3%. Chest radiographs might be normal during the febrile prodrome and throughout the course of illness. However, in a substantial proportion of patients, the respiratory phase is characterized by early focal interstitial infiltrates progressing to more generalized, patchy, interstitial infiltrates. Some chest radiographs from patients in the late stages of SARS have also shown areas of consolidation. Early in the course of disease, the absolute lymphocyte count is often decreased. Overall white blood cell counts have generally been normal or decreased. At the peak of the respiratory illness, approximately 50% of patients have leukopenia and thrombocytopenia or low-normal platelet counts (50,000-150,000/μL). Early in the respiratory phase, elevated creatine phosphokinase levels (as high as 3,000 IU/L) and hepatic transaminases (2-6 times the upper limits of normal) have been noted. Treatment regimens have included several antibiotics to presumptively treat known bacterial agents of atypical pneumonia. In several locations, therapy has also included antiviral agents such as oseltamivir or ribavirin. Steroids have also been administered orally or intravenously to patients in combination with ribavirin and other antimicrobials. Although there are no approved drugs with proven efficacy against coronaviruses, there are potential targets for the development of new drugs. Protease inhibitors could prevent processing of the RNA polymerase or cleavage of the viral S glycoprotein. Inhibitors of coronavirus acetylesterase activity might limit viral replication.
Drawing on the sociology of moral panic, this paper argues that the media will shift from alarming to reassuring coverage when a 'hot crisis' portends a possible grass root panic. To determine whether this moderation effect follows from dread-inspiring events that are developing in unpredictable and potentially threatening ways, the paper compares newspaper and magazine coverage of emerging diseases with their coverage of Ebola Zaire. The results reveal that the mutation-contagion package, with its frightful account of emerging diseases, was quickly abandoned and subverted during the Ebola epidemic. In its place, the media fashion a containment package that uses a strategy of 'othering' to allay the fear. The conclusion discusses the flexibility in the tool kits used by the media to frame events.
The article develops a critical analysis of the concept of moral panic and its sociological uses. Arguing that some of the concept's subtlety and power has been lost as the term has become popular, the article foregrounds its Freudian and Durkheimian aspects and explicates the epistemological and ethical issues involved in its use. Contrasting the dynamics of moral panics to the dynamics of culture wars, the author shows that both phenomena involve group relations and status competition, though each displays a characteristically different structure. The piece concludes by situating 'moral panics' within a larger typology of concepts utilized in the sociology of social reaction.
Using prior seminal work that places emphasis on news framing and its relevance to sociocultural context, this study describes, maps, and explains evolving patterns of communication on Twitter through the events of the 2011 Egyptian uprisings, which led to the resignation of President Mubarak. Using a multimethodological approach, we conducted a network, content, and discourse analysis of randomly sampled tweets from approximately one million tweets over a month-long time period to study broadcasting and listening practices on Twitter. The findings suggested networked framing and gatekeeping practices that became activated as prominent actors and frames were crowdsourced to prominence. Quantitative findings underscored the significant role of ordinary users who both rose to prominence and elevated others to elite status through networked gatekeeping actions. In depth, discourse analysis of prominent actors and frames highlighted the fluid, iterative processes inherent in networked framing as frames were persistently revised, rearticulated, and redispersed by both crowd and elite. The ambience and affect afforded by the platform further supported conversational practices that enabled combined processes of networked framing and gatekeeping. The findings point to new directions for hybrid and fluid journalisms that rely on subjective pluralism, cocreation, and collaborative curation.
This paper analyses coverage of the risks from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in March 2003 to April 2004 in 15 news media from seven countries (Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Spain, the UK and the USA) as part of an analysis of risk management for the European Commission. A total of 1014 relevant news articles were found and coded for their presentational tone or ‘scariness,’ the types of risk (health, financial and political) mentioned, the countries involved, and the documents, people and organizations cited. The main period of the epidemic (as reported internationally) lasted 3 months from the end of March to the end of June 2003, by which time over 770 people had died worldwide. In the early weeks, the tone of the articles was somewhat scary, but by the end of May much had been learned about the disease, its likely death rate and how to contain it, and the articles became less numerous and more moderate in tone. Because of the rapid spread of the disease, there was not time for it to become politicized. Some 62 documents were cited in the news articles, mostly research papers. The people and organizations most cited were the WHO, medical personnel, officials, governments, politicians and scientists; the latter tended to make the news articles less scary. Public reaction to the news, in the form of statistics on air travellers to the Far East and to Toronto, Canada, suggests that the health risks of the latter were seen as much less serious than those of the former.
Drawing predominately on a once-a-day Google News Alert for newspaper coverage of the “bird flu,” this study examines global discourses on this topic in terms of alarming and reassuring coverage. Three stages of discourse are identified. The first is termed sounding the alarm, where fearful claims making predominates. The second is mixed messages, and involves a continuation of the threat with efforts to moderate it with elements of reassurance, including scientific promises and national plans to combat bird flu. The third stage is hot crisis and containment, and involves efforts to undo the most frightful elements of the avian mutation interpretative package as the H5N1 virus spreads into Europe.
A pesar de los grandes avances tecnológicos, los críticos sostienen que vivimos en sociedades iletradas científicamente, donde las personas toman decisiones importantes sin tomar en cuenta el conocimiento científico. Los autores de esta obra enfrentan las interrogantes referentes a si es necesario que el público en general necesita comprender la ciencia y en caso que así fuera, si es responsabilidad de los científicos comunicar estos conocimientos; si la solución es innundar a las audiencias con información o si las noticias científicas han de estar enfocadas en torno a temas específicos y presentadas en forma de relatos, de modo que sean significativas y relevantes para la vida de las personas.
It is still an open question where to search for complying a specific information need due to the large amount and diversity of information available. In this paper, a content analysis of health-related information provided in the Web is performed to get an overview on the medical content available. In particular, the content of medical Question & Answer Portals, medical weblogs, medical reviews and Wikis is compared. For this purpose, medical concepts are extracted from the text material with existing extraction technology. Based on these concepts, the content of the different knowledge resources is compared. Since medical weblogs describe experiences as well as information, it is of large interest to be able to distinguish between informative and affective posts. For this reason, a method to classify blogs based on their information content is presented, which exploits high-level features describing the medical and affective content of blog posts. The results show that there are substantial differences in the content of various health-related Web resources. Weblogs and answer portals mainly deal with diseases and medications. The Wiki and the encyclopedia provide more information on anatomy and procedures. While patients and nurses describe personal aspects of their life, doctors aim to present health-related information in their blog posts. The knowledge on content differences and information content can be exploited by search engines to improve ranking, search and to direct users to appropriate knowledge sources.
This study reviewed Twitter status updates mentioning "antibiotic(s)" to determine overarching categories and explore evidence of misunderstanding or misuse of antibiotics.
One thousand Twitter status updates mentioning antibiotic(s) were randomly selected for content analysis and categorization. To explore cases of potential misunderstanding or misuse, these status updates were mined for co-occurrence of the following terms: "cold + antibiotic(s)," "extra + antibiotic(s)," "flu + antibiotic(s)," "leftover + antibiotic(s)," and "share + antibiotic(s)" and reviewed to confirm evidence of misuse or misunderstanding.
Of the 1000 status updates, 971 were categorized into 11 groups: general use (n = 289), advice/information (n = 157), side effects/negative reactions (n = 113), diagnosis (n = 102), resistance (n = 92), misunderstanding and/or misuse (n = 55), positive reactions (n = 48), animals (n = 46), other (n = 42), wanting/needing (n = 19), and cost (n = 8). Cases of misunderstanding or abuse were identified for the following combinations: "flu + antibiotic(s)" (n = 345), "cold + antibiotic(s)" (n = 302), "leftover + antibiotic(s)" (n = 23), "share + antibiotic(s)" (n = 10), and "extra + antibiotic(s)" (n = 7).
Social media sites offer means of health information sharing. Further study is warranted to explore how such networks may provide a venue to identify misuse or misunderstanding of antibiotics, promote positive behavior change, disseminate valid information, and explore how such tools can be used to gather real-time health data.
Mods and Rockers, skinheads, video nasties, designer drugs, bogus asylum seeks and hoodies. Every era has its own moral panics. It was Stanley Cohen’s classic account, first published in the early 1970s and regularly revised, that brought the term ‘moral panic’ into widespread discussion. It is an outstanding investigation of the way in which the media and often those in a position of political power define a condition, or group, as a threat to societal values and interests. Fanned by screaming media headlines, Cohen brilliantly demonstrates how this leads to such groups being marginalised and vilified in the popular imagination, inhibiting rational debate about solutions to the social problems such groups represent. Furthermore, he argues that moral panics go even further by identifying the very fault lines of power in society.
Most accounts of the cultural stigmas associated with AIDS have not adequately considered the meanings through which the stigmatizing self imagines his/her difference from the stigmatized other. This paper argues that 'health' is a key concept in the fashioning of identity for the modern and contemporary middle class and that the 'unhealthy' come to be represented as the other of this self. 'Healthy' and 'unhealthy,' however, must be understood both in their biomedical meanings and in their implicit metaphorical meanings. The 'unhealthy,' 'contagious,' 'sexually deviant,' and 'addicted-minority' other--all condensed in the negative symbolism of AIDS--have become images which are mobilized as part of a cultural politics of reconstructing the self in conformity with intensified mandates for self-control. The expulsion of 'unhealthy' meanings from the self, an act of patrolling the borders of identity, finds its projected physical location in the figure of the person with HIV-AIDS.
Empirical examinations of the "social amplification of risk" framework are rare, partly because of the difficulties in predicting when conditions likely to result in amplification effects will occur. This means that it is difficult to examine changes in risk perception that are contemporaneous with increases and/or decreases in social or media discussion of the risks associated with a particular risk event. However, the collection of attitude data before, during, and after the increased reporting of the risks of genetically modified food in the United Kingdom (spring 1999) has demonstrated that people's risk perceptions do increase and decrease in line with what might be expected upon examination of the amplification and attenuation mechanisms integral to the framework. Perceptions of benefit, however, appeared to be permanently depressed by negative reporting about genetically modified food. Trust in regulatory institutions with responsibility for protecting the public was not affected. It was concluded that the social amplification of risk framework is a useful framework for beginning to explain the potential impact on risk perceptions of a risk event, particularly if that risk event is presented to the public as a new hazard occurring in a crisis context.
This paper examines the reporting of the story of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and its human derivative variant Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease (vCJD) in the British newspapers. Three 'snapshots' of newspaper coverage are sampled and analysed between the period 1986 and 1996 focusing on how representations of the disease evolved over the 10-year period. Social representations theory is used to elucidate how this new disease threat was conceptualised in the newspaper reporting and how it was explained to the UK public. This paper examines who or what was said to be at risk from the new disease, and whether some individuals or groups held to blame for the diseases' putative origins, the appearance of vCJD in human beings, and its spread.
How the 2016 presidential campaign is being discussed on Reddit
- M Barthel
Barthel, M. (2016). How the 2016 presidential campaign is being discussed on Reddit. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.
pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/25/how-the-2016-presidential-cam
paign-is-being-discussed-on-reddit/
outbreak in West Africa
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014) 2014 outbreak in
West Africa. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved
from http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/index.
html
search.org/facttank/2016/09/14/facts-about-the-changing-digitalnews-landscape/
Gatekeeping theory from social fields to social networks
- D Deluliis
Deluliis, D. (2015). Gatekeeping theory from social fields to social networks. Communication Research Trends, 34(1), 4-23.
What's my risk of catching Ebola? National Public Radio
- M Doucleff
Doucleff, M. (2014). What's my risk of catching Ebola? National Public
Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/
2014/10/23/358349882/an-answer-for-americans-who-ask-whats-myrisk-of-catching-ebola
If the media had covered Ebola sooner, could the latest outbreak have been contained
- P Fahri
Fahri, P. (2014). If the media had covered Ebola sooner, could the latest
outbreak have been contained? Washington Post. Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/if-news-media-hadcovered-ebola-sooner-could-latest-outbreak-have-been-contained/
2014/10/15/a0db8bea-534c-11e4-809b-8cc0a295c773_story.html.
The elements of journalism
- B Kovach
- T Rosentiel
Kovach, B., & Rosentiel, T. (2001). The elements of journalism. New
York, USA: Crown Publishers.
Don’t blame CNN for the Ebola panic
- K Leetaru
Leetaru, K. (2014). Don't blame CNN for the Ebola panic. Foreign Policy.
Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/10/24/dont-blame-cnnfor-the-ebola-panic/
Developing a search with LexisNexis
- Lexisnexis
LexisNexis. (2014). Developing a search with LexisNexis. LexisNexis.
Retrieved from https://www.lexisnexis.com/bis-user-information/
docs/developingasearch.pdf.
10 facts about changing the digital news landscape
- K E Matsa
- K Lu
Matsa, K. E., & Lu, K. (2016). 10 facts about changing the digital news
landscape. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewre
The modern news consumer
- A Mitchell
- J Gottfried
- M Barthel
- E Shearer
Mitchell, A., Gottfried, J., Barthel, M., & Shearer, E. (2016). The modern
news consumer. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.
journalism.org/2016/07/07/the-modern-news-consumer/
Obama is risking a U.S. Ebola outbreak because of his own ambitions
- L Peek
Peek, L. (2014, October 15). Obama is risking a U.S. Ebola outbreak
because of his own ambitions. Fiscal Times. Retrieved from http://
www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2014/10/15/Obama-Risking-US-Ebola-Outbreak-His-Own-Ambitions.
Ebola 'false alarms' in the US escalate as hysteria spreads. The International Business Times
- P Ross
Ross, P. (2014, October 20). Ebola 'false alarms' in the US escalate as
hysteria spreads. The International Business Times. Retrieved from
http://www.ibtimes.com/ebola-false-alarms-us-escalate-hysteriaspreads-1708073
Yes, the news can survive the newspaper
- J Rutenberg
Rutenberg, J. (2016). Yes, the news can survive the newspaper. The New
York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/
business/yes-the-news-can-survive-the-newspaper.html?_r=0
Ebola coverage on TV news plummeted after midterms
- R Savillo
- M Gertz
Savillo, R., & Gertz, M. (2014). Ebola coverage on TV news plummeted
after midterms. Media Matters for America. Retrieved from http://
mediamatters.org/research/2014/11/19/report-ebola-coverage-on-tvnews-plummeted-afte/201619
Journalists as gatekeepers
- P J Shoemaker
- T P Vos
- S R Reese
Shoemaker, P. J., Vos, T. P., & Reese, S. R. (2009). Journalists as gatekeepers. In K. Wahl-Jorgensen & T. Hantizsch (Eds.), The handbook
of journalism studies (pp. 73-87). New York, USA: Routledge.
Public broadcast station
The Culture of Reddit. (2012). Public broadcast station. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXGs_7Yted8.
The medium and message of Ebola. The Lancet
The Lancet. (2014, November 8). The medium and message of Ebola.
The Lancet. Retrieved from http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/
article/PIIS0140-6736(14)62016-X/fulltext?rss=yes
WHO announces joint response plan for curbing Ebola. Health Daily Digest. Retrieved from LexisNexis Academic
- S Yajurvedi
Yajurvedi, S. (2014). WHO announces joint response plan for curbing
Ebola. Health Daily Digest. Retrieved from LexisNexis Academic.
HEALTH COMMUNICATION
817
Ebola ‘false alarms’ in the US escalate as hysteria spreads
- P Ross
What’s my risk of catching Ebola
- M Doucleff