The Impact of Media Coverage on Coronavirus Perception Report

This report provides an analysis of media coverage surrounding the Coronavirus outbreak, focusing on its impact on public perception and the spread of misinformation. It highlights how the media, both online and in print, has used fear-inducing language and sensationalism, such as referring to the virus as a "killer" and promoting conspiracy theories. The report examines the pervasive nature of discrimination, particularly against Asian communities. The report critiques the imbalance in media coverage, noting the proliferation of false information and the lack of balanced reporting. It argues that the media could have played a more constructive role by disseminating accurate information and promoting empathy instead of fueling panic. The report concludes that the media plays a critical role in shaping public emotions and awareness during health crises.

HEALTHCARE
Constructs of Health, Safety and Wellness

Media coverage of a social or global issue is vital in terms of the social emotions and
awareness. The coverage of the health issues receives excessive media attention and fear is
one of the significant elements of such coverage. The following report would highlight the
coverage of the health issue of Coronavirus as the same has become a worldwide public
health crisis.
It must be noted that the current outbreak has received more media attention than other
outbreaks like that of Ebola. As per the recent study conducted by the Times Magazine, it has
been assessed that the number of articles in the English-language print news for the coverage
of Coronavirus are 23 times more than Ebola, in the first month of both the outbreaks
(Ducharme, 2020). The following graph highlights the same.
(Source: Duchrame, 2020)
It is been observed that the element of fear has played a central role in the coverage of the
issue, as the fear inducing language has been used and the pandemic has been often referred

to as the “killer virus,” “deadly disease,” and other similar names (The Conversation, 2020).
One of the significant elements to be noted about the Coronavirus coverage is that the
pervasive nature of discrimination in the outbreak as against the Asian communities in the
western countries. There have emerged discriminatory attacks against the people from the
region of China, specifically Hubei with the messages like “people from Hubei are time
bombs (Zeng, 2020).” This is now followed by the people of Italy being targeted.
The coverage of the issue in the media cannot be stated to be balanced, as huge amount of
sensational and misinformation is doing the rounds in both the online and print media. For
instance, various conspiracy theories have been proposed against the spread of the
Coronavirus, such as biological weapon, along with the bogus medicines and powders for the
immunization against the virus, and the social media challenges amidst the lockdowns
(Frenkel, Alba and Zhong, 2020).
The presentation of the media cannot be stated to be balanced as the same was initially
presented as a non-curable medical condition, and the fear was propelled within the minds of
the public. The basic assumption of panic has been created in the minds of the individuals
worldwide, with the use of the sensational headlines because the same leads to the attraction
of the unprecedented traffic on the news channels and print media articles. Instead, the media
could have played the role of the information disseminator to aid the individuals develop
informational insights about prevention and empathy during the hard times of crisis.
Hence, as per the discussions conducted in the previous parts, it can be concluded that the
media plays a key role in the coverage of the health issues, and sets the tone for the emotions
among public.

References
Ducharme, J. (2020) News Coverage of Coronavirus in 2020 is Very Different Than it Was
For Ebola in 2018 [online] Available from: https://time.com/5779872/coronavirus-ebola-
news-coverage/ [Accessed on: 31 March 2020].
Frenkel, S., Alba, D. and Zhong, R. (2020) Surge of Virus Misinformation Stumps Facebook
and Twitter [online] Available from:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/08/technology/coronavirus-misinformation-social-
media.html?auth=login-google [Accessed on: 31 March 2020].
The Conversation (2020) Coronavirus: how media coverage of epidemics often stokes fear
and panic [online] Available from: https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-how-media-
coverage-of-epidemics-often-stokes-fear-and-panic-131844 [Accessed on: 31 March 2020].
Zeng, J. (2020) Sensationalist media is exacerbating racist coronavirus fears. We need to
combat it [online] Available from:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/28/sen sationalist-media-is-
exacerbating-racist-coronavirus-fears-we-need-to-combat-it [Accessed on: 31 March 2020].