Covid-19 & the Media. Cover of How to Watch TV News by Neil Postman and Steve Powers

Transcription

1 Covid-19 & the Media Asian doctor administering a COVID test. Used for Minnesota Public Radio News homepage. story page, Twitter, Facebook post, stories, Instagram post and stories Cover of How to Watch TV News by Neil Postman and Steve Powers

2 Fox News on Trump Tweet

3 AZ Central on Trump Tweet

4 Different Media Takes on Same Information How does the public decide what is fact? Does anyone s opinion get swayed, or do they already think that they have all the facts? Overall question for discussion: Do news sources change anyone's minds or are people only reading what validates their already formed opinion?

5 Questions to consider: 1. What information is this figure/article/data giving us? What information is this source leaving out? Why? 2. What story are they trying to tell? 3. In evaluating media, how can we work to separate intent versus impact of a source? 4. What tools can we use to evaluate media sources?

6 Motives for Media 1. Economic a. Sensationalist media makes money b. Ad Space 2. Political a. Upcoming election b. Partisanship Are news sources knowingly misleading audiences or do they believe they are reporting objectively?

7 Evaluation Tools: Attention to tone (what words are being used, and why?; what is being left out?) What information is being provided? How is it being presented? What visuals are used to accompany the story? Who has access to different types/forms of information? What facts would you like to see?

8 The amount of media coverage a news source gives to Covid-19 could change viewers perception of the severity of the virus

9 CNN vs Fox News Coverage: Trump s Release from the Hospital cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/

10 Fox News If you wanted Trump to die from COVID you re the one who s sick Talks negatively about the media (liberal news sources) Emotional word choice: enraged, lying, propaganda Condemn liberal approaches to solving the pandemic Destroying economy, keeping kids from going to school, giving up constitutional rights

11 Fox News Narrative of Trump as resilient and strong Working while sick Released from hospital after only 3 days Emphasize from limited video footage that he looks fine

12 CNN Reporter calls himself a fact check reporter = appearance of objectivity (when this may not be true) On Fox Business Trump said when you catch it you get better Reporter says this is obviously not true Use of word obvious makes Trump appear uneducated

13 CNN Trump was inaccurate, again Conveys the message that Trump is frequently incorrect We all know this president Use of first person we creates an us vs. them mindset Calls Trump this president rather than the/our president or calling him by his name

14 Covid-19 and Social Media Many people get their news through not just professional media sources, but also social media Effect of being friends with like-minded people -- does fact checking go by the wayside? What responsibility do social media companies have to fact check and prevent falsehoods from spreading on their sites? Discussion question: how has social media as a news source affected people s perceptions of Covid-19?

15 Social Media Power of algorithms to create echo chambers & polarization WSJ found Facebook has internal evidence of this Example: Blue Feed, Red Feed visualization tool (from , but can imagine how much more rampant this phenomenon has become with COVID)

16 There is an unrest within you, above which, nevertheless, consciousness soars clearly and lucidly; your whole soul is concentrated upon this sole point, your understanding devises a hundred plans for the attack; it fails in one direction; instantly your almost diabolical dialectic is capable of explaining the previous failure in such a way that it must be serviceable for the new line of operations. You are constantly hovering over yourself, and however decisive every step may be, you retain the possibility of interpretation in which one word is able to alter everything..." -Kierkegaard In what ways does this quote apply to media (or political communications) during the pandemic?

17 COVID-19 from Media Practitioner, Emily Bright 04 Minnesota Radio Public Broadcast Reporter and Producer Receives COVID Stats at 11am and has to have a story ready by 12pm Availability of instantaneous information as a double edged sword Visuals are important for telling a story (our subconscious remembers images better than details) Moral dilemma of informing the public without causing panic As a news practitioner, Emily is critical of the bias/angle from stories she consumes

18 Actually, a Chinese Virologist Didn t Prove That the Coronavirus Was Man-Made - September 17 NYTimes article by Kevin Roose Analyzing this article reveals clear examples of three things: The importance of fact checking/examining sources The power of social media How language can be manipulated At first, titles like Doctor and words like solid scientific evidence engender trust and a belief that the information being presented is probably factual (using language to manipulate)

19 NYT Article Continued... But then we see fact checking come into play and the difference between the credibility of the sources that was not originally easily seen is discovered However, by now the original claim has gained national attention via social media and other sources and is being used to further a narrative

20 Discussion Topics 1. Are media sources using credible professionals to intentionally misinform their audiences? 2. What is the reasoning behind this? What is their motivation? What is their to gain from inaccuracies? 3. Is speed better than accuracy? 4. Moral dilemma - panic vs prevention.