TY - JOUR
T1 - Public anxiety and distrust due to perceived politicization and media sensationalism during early COVID-19 media messaging
AU - Van Scoy, Lauren Jodi
AU - Snyder, Bethany
AU - Miller, Erin L.
AU - Toyobo, Olubukola
AU - Grewel, Ashmita
AU - Ha, Giang
AU - Gillespie, Sarah
AU - Patel, Megha
AU - Reilly, Jordyn
AU - Zgierska, Aleksandra E.
AU - Lennon, Robert P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Background: Understanding early COVID-19 messaging is essential for improving future public health responses to pandemics. This study applied aspects of both media dependency theory and a source credibility framework to explore how COVID-19 pandemic messaging was perceived by the public within one month of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic. Methods: We administered a cross-sectional, mixed methods online survey in March, 2020 to Pennsylvanian adults (N = 538) enrolled in a health network. Participants were 58% female, 56% with a Bachelor’s Degree or higher, and 50% from minority racial backgrounds. Results: Thematic analysis revealed six major themes describing flawed messaging about the pandemic, with the resulting confusion, distrust, and anxiety leading to a desire for a single source of information. Distrust of both media and government arose from perceived contradictory messages, sensationalized messages, and information overload. Relationships between themes are mapped into a conceptual model, which demonstrates the destructive and cyclic relationship between the media and the public anxiety reported in our data. Conclusions: Practical implications of our findings suggest that public health messaging initiatives should include solutions that seek to improve trust, source credibility and work to centralize, unify, and streamline delivery of information during a pandemic.
AB - Background: Understanding early COVID-19 messaging is essential for improving future public health responses to pandemics. This study applied aspects of both media dependency theory and a source credibility framework to explore how COVID-19 pandemic messaging was perceived by the public within one month of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic. Methods: We administered a cross-sectional, mixed methods online survey in March, 2020 to Pennsylvanian adults (N = 538) enrolled in a health network. Participants were 58% female, 56% with a Bachelor’s Degree or higher, and 50% from minority racial backgrounds. Results: Thematic analysis revealed six major themes describing flawed messaging about the pandemic, with the resulting confusion, distrust, and anxiety leading to a desire for a single source of information. Distrust of both media and government arose from perceived contradictory messages, sensationalized messages, and information overload. Relationships between themes are mapped into a conceptual model, which demonstrates the destructive and cyclic relationship between the media and the public anxiety reported in our data. Conclusions: Practical implications of our findings suggest that public health messaging initiatives should include solutions that seek to improve trust, source credibility and work to centralize, unify, and streamline delivery of information during a pandemic.
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U2 - 10.1080/17538068.2021.1953934
DO - 10.1080/17538068.2021.1953934
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85112647073
SN - 1753-8068
VL - 14
SP - 193
EP - 205
JO - Journal of Communication in Healthcare
JF - Journal of Communication in Healthcare
IS - 3
ER -