Article Sidebar

Submitted
August 20, 2023
Accepted
December 29, 2023
Published
December 31, 2023
Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 104 Download : 48

Main Article Content

Abstract

This study investigates the profound impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global media landscape and its consequential effects on journalism. Utilizing the secondary data analysis method, this study explores how the pandemic affected journalists worldwide. The study argues that the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated media commercialization globally due to the ensuing global recession. Simultaneously, there was a noticeable push by politicians to exert greater influence over the media, seeking to conceal their misdeeds and shortcomings, as well as to propagate their narratives through the press. This encompassed discussions about the coronavirus’s origin, transmission, and containment efforts, often as a means to gain advantages over domestic and international political adversaries. Many outlets, faced with fiscal and political adversity, unwittingly became conduits for such political propaganda, a consequence both of their struggle for survival and their lack of preparedness to navigate a crisis of such magnitude. Consequently, a surge of disinformation and misinformation regarding the virus’s origin and mitigation permeated media outlets, resulting in a crisis of credibility. The aftermath reveals a disheartening decline in public trust in mass media that significantly impeded vaccination initiatives.

Keywords

Mass Media Commercialization State Politicians Propaganda COVID-19 Misinformation Disinformation Trust Society

Article Details

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
Khan, E. K. (2023). Another Covid Causality: Global Journalism . Asian Journal of Media and Communication, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.20885/asjmc.vol7.iss2.art3
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

References

  1. Altemeyer, R. A. (1981). Right-wing Authoritarianism. Winnipeg, Canada.
  2. Amnesty International. (2020, May 1). Global: Crackdown on Journalists Weakens Efforts to
  3. Tackle COVID-19. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/05/global-crackdown-on-journalists-weakens-efforts-to-tackle-covid19/
  4. Anspach, N. M. (2017). The New Personal Influence: How our Facebook Friends Influence the
  5. News we Read. Political Communication, 34(4), 590–606.
  6. Ariely, G. (2015). Does Commercialized Political Coverage Undermine Political Trust?:
  7. Evidence Across European Countries. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 59(3), 438–455. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2015.1055000
  8. Berger, P., & Luckmann, T. (2016). The Social Construction of Reality. In Social Theory Re-
  9. Wired, 110-122. Routledge.
  10. Bogart, L. (2000). Commercial Culture: The Media System and the Public Interest (1st ed.).
  11. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315080949
  12. BBC News Online. (2020, May 28). Coronavirus: Inside the pro-China network targeting the
  13. US, Hong Kong and an Exiled Tycoon. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-52657434
  14. BBC News Online. (2020, Feb 4). China coronavirus: Misinformation spreads online about
  15. origin and scale. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-51271037
  16. Castle, J. E. (2003). Maximizing research opportunities: Secondary data analysis. Journal of
  17. Neuroscience Nursing, 35(5), 287–290.
  18. Carey, J. W. (2009). Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society. Boston: Unwin
  19. Hyman.
  20. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). How to Address COVID-19 Vaccine
  21. Misinformation. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-departments/addressing-vaccine-misinformation.html
  22. Cheng, H. G., & Phillips, M. R. (2014). Secondary analysis of existing data: Opportunities and
  23. implementation. Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry, 26(6), 371–375. https://dx.doi.org/10.11919%2Fj.issn.1002-0829.214171
  24. CNBC Online. (2021). Pfizer CEO says people who spread misinformation on Covid vaccines
  25. are ‘criminals’. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/09/covid-vaccines-pfizer-ceo-says-people-who-spread-misinformation-on-shots-are-criminals.html
  26. Cohen, E. L. (2002). Inline Journalism as Market-Driven Journalism. Journal of Broadcasting &
  27. Electronic Media, 46(4), 532-548.
  28. Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2018). The mediated construction of reality. John Wiley & Sons.
  29. Kiousis, S. (2001). Public trust or mistrust? Perceptions of media credibility in the information
  30. age. Mass Communication & Society, 4(4), 381-403.
  31. CoronaVirusFact Alliance. (2020, April). Fighting the Infodemic: The #CoronaVirusFacts
  32. Alliance. Poynter. https://www.poynter.org/coronavirusfactsalliance/
  33. Chadwick, A. (2013). The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power. Oxford, UK: Oxford
  34. University Press.
  35. Casero-Ripollés, A. (2020). Impact of Covid-19 on the media system: Communicative and
  36. democratic consequences of news consumption during the outbreak. El Profesional de la Información, 29(2), e290223.
  37. Cook, S. (2021). China’s Global Media Footprint: Democratic Response to Expending
  38. Authoritarian Influence. Sharp Power and Democratic Resilience Series. National Endowment for Democracy. https://www.ned.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Chinas-Global-Media-Footprint-Democratic-Responses-to-Expanding-Authoritarian-Influence-Cook-Feb-2021.pdf
  39. D’Arma, A. (2018). The hollowing out of public service media: a constructivist institutionalist
  40. analysis of the commercialisation of BBC’s in-house production. Media, Culture & Society, 40(3), 432–448. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443717713260
  41. Daily Caller. (2020, June 9). Chinese Propaganda Outlet has paid U.S. Newspapers $19 Million
  42. for Advertising, Printing. https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/08/chinese-propaganda-china-daily-washington-post/
  43. Deuze, M. (2020). The role of media and mass communication theory in the global pandemic.
  44. Communication Today, 11(2), 4-16.
  45. Ferreira, J. P., Epstein, M., & Zannad, F. (2021). The Decline of the Experimental Paradigm
  46. During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Template for the Future. The American Journal of Medicine, 134(2), 166–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.08.021
  47. Franck, T. (2020). Trump says the coronavirus is the Democrats’ “new hoax.” CNBC.
  48. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/28/trump-says-the-coronavirus-is-the-democrats-new-hoax.html
  49. Gaziano, C. (1988). How credible is the credibility crisis?. Journalism Quarterly, 65(2), 267-
  50. Golan, G. J., & Day, A. G. (2010). In God we trust: Religiosity as a predictor of perceptions of
  51. media trust, factuality, and privacy invasion. American Behavioral Scientist, 54(2), 120-136.
  52. Gottfried J. & Liedke J. (2021, August 30). Partisan divides in media trust widen, driven by a
  53. decline among Republicans. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/08/30/partisan-divides-in-media-trust-widen-driven-by-a-decline-among-republicans/
  54. Hanusch, F., Banjac, S., & Maares, P. (2020). The power of commercial influences: How
  55. lifestyle journalists experience pressure from advertising and public relations. Journalism Practice, 14(9), 1029-1046.
  56. Hart, P. S., Chinn, S., & Soroka, S. (2020). Politicization and Polarization in COVID-19 News
  57. Coverage. Science Communication, 42(5), 679–697. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547020950735
  58. Heaton, J. (2008). Secondary analysis of qualitative data: An overview. Historical Social
  59. Research, 33(3), 33–45.
  60. Hovland, C. I., & Weiss, W. (1951). The influence of source credibility on communication
  61. effectiveness. Public Opinion Quarterly, 15(4), 635-650.
  62. Hu, Z., Yang, Z., Li, Q., Zhang, A., & Huang, Y. (2020). Infodemiological study on COVID-19
  63. epidemic and COVID-19 infodemic.
  64. International Federation of Journalists. (2020). Exposed: The Crisis Facing Journalism in the
  65. Face of Covid-19. https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/press- releases/article/exposed-the-crisis-facing-journalism-in-the-face-of-covid-19.html
  66. International Federation of Journalists. (2021). The Covid-19 Story: Unmasking China’s Global
  67. Strategy. https://www.ifj.org/fileadmin/user_upload/210512_IFJ_The_Covid_Story_Report_-_FINAL.pdf
  68. International Center for Journalists. (2021). Journalism and the Pandemic Project: Assessing and
  69. Responding to COVID-19’s Long-Term Impacts. https://www.icfj.org/news/journalism-and-pandemic-project-assessing-and-responding-covid-19s-long-term-impacts
  70. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. (2021, December 13). Global
  71. Overview of Covid-19 Impact on Elections. https://www.idea.int/news-media/multimedia-reports/global-overview-covid-19-impact-elections
  72. Jowett, G., & O'Donnell, V. (2006). Propaganda and Persuasion (4th ed.). Sage Publications.
  73. Lim, Bergin, & Lidberg, (2021). The Covid-19 Story: Unmasking China’s Global Strategy.
  74. International Federation of Journalists. https://www.ifj.org/fileadmin/user_upload/210512_IFJ_The_Covid_Story_Report_-_FINAL.pdf
  75. Matsa, K. E., & Naseer, S. (2020). News Platform Fact Sheet. Pew Research Center.
  76. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/newspapers/
  77. McManus, J. H. (1994). Market-driven Journalism: Let the Citizen Beware?. Sage Publications.
  78. McManus, J. H. (2009). The Commercialization of News. In R. W. McChesney & V. Mosco
  79. (Eds.), The Handbook of Journalism Studies, 218-236. Routledge.
  80. McChesney, R. W. (2003). The problem of journalism: A political economic contribution to an
  81. explanation of the crisis in contemporary US journalism. Journalism Studies, 4(3), 299-329. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700306492
  82. McGuire, W. J. (1986). The myth of massive media impact: Savaging and salvaging. In G.
  83. Comstock (Ed.), Public Communication and Behavior, 1, 173–257.
  84. Motta, M., Stecula, D., & Farhart, C. (2020). How Right-Leaning Media Coverage of COVID-19
  85. Facilitated the Spread of Misinformation in the Early Stages of the Pandemic in the U.S. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 53(2), 335-342. doi:10.1017/S0008423920000396
  86. Nelson, J. (2020). Coronavirus: News media sounded the alarm for months but few listened. The
  87. Conversation. https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-news-media-sounded-the-alarm-for-months-but-few-listened-132224
  88. Newman et al. (2020). Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2019. Reuters Institute.
  89. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2019-06/DNR_2019_FINAL_0.pdf
  90. Picard, R. G. (2004). Commercialism and newspaper quality. Newspaper Research Journal,
  91. (1), 54–65.
  92. Perse, E. M., & Lambe, J. L. (2017). Media effects and society. New York: Routledge.
  93. Posetti, J., Bell, E., & Brown, P. (2020). Journalism and the pandemic: A global snapshot of
  94. impacts.
  95. International Center for Journalists. Retrieved from https://www.icfj.org/sites/default/files/2020-
  96. /Journalism%20and%20the%20Pandemic%20Project%20Report%2C%20201.
  97. Posetti, J., & Bontcheva, K. (2020). Disinfodemic. Deciphering Covid-19 disinformation, Policy
  98. brief, 1. UNESCO
  99. Putnam, R. D. (2002). Bowling together. The American Prospect, 13(3), 20-22.
  100. Reporters Without Borders. (2021). 2021 World Press Freedom Index: Journalism, the vaccine
  101. against disinformation, blocked in more than 130 countries. https://rsf.org/en/2021-world-press-freedom-index-journalism-vaccine-against-disinformation-blocked-more-130-countries
  102. Rew, L., Koniak-Griffin, D., Lewis, M. A., Miles, M., & O’Sullivan, A. (2000). Secondary data
  103. analysis: New perspective for adolescent research. Nursing Outlook, 48(5), 223–239. 10.1067/mno.2000.104901
  104. Rupar, A. (2020). Hannity claims he’s “never called the virus a hoax” 9 days after decrying
  105. Democrats’ “new hoax.” Vox. https://www.vox.com/2020/3/20/21186727/hannity-coronavirus-coverage-foxnews
  106. Smith, A. K., Ayanian, J. Z., Covinsky, K. E., Landon, B. E., McCarthy, E. P., Wee, C. C., &
  107. Steinman, M. A. (2011). Conducting high-value secondary dataset analysis: An
  108. introductory guide and resources. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 26(8), 920–929.
  109. 1007/s11606-010-1621-5
  110. South China Morning Post. (2020, March 13). Chinese foreign ministry spokesman tweets claim
  111. US military brought coronavirus to Wuhan.
  112. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3075051/chinese-foreign-ministry-
  113. spokesman-tweets-claim-us-military
  114. Tjaardstra, N. (2017). World Press Trends 2017: Trust is the New Currency for Success.
  115. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: WAN-IFRA.
  116. Tsfati, Y., & Cappella, J. N. (2003). Do people watch what they do not trust? Exploring the
  117. association between news media skepticism and exposure. Communication Research, 30(5), 504-529.
  118. Toff B. et al. (2020). What we think we know and what we want to know: perspectives on trust
  119. in news in a changing world. Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2020. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/what-we-think-we-know-and-what-wewant-know-perspectives-trust-news-changing
  120. Thussu, D. K. (2007). The 'Murdochization' of news? The case of Star TV in India. Media,
  121. Culture & Society, 29(4), 593-611.
  122. Ward, S. J. A. (2014). Classical Liberal Theory in a Digital World. The Handbook of Media and
  123. Mass Communication Theory (pp. 411-424). John Wiley & Sons.
  124. Wickham, R. J. (2019). Secondary Analysis Research. Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in
  125. Oncology, 10(4), 395-400. https://doi.org/10.6004/jadpro.2019.10.4.7
  126. Waisbord, S. (2018). Truth is what happens to news: On journalism, fake news, and post-truth.
  127. Journalism Studies, 19(13), 1866-1878.
  128. World Health Organization. (2020). Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV): Situation Report, 13.
  129. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200202-sitrep-13-ncov-v3.pdf
  130. Yu, S. S. (2018). The Commercialization of Journalism. Journalism Studies, 19(16), 2433–2450.
  131. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2017.1350116
  132. UNICEF. (2020). Vaccine Misinformation Management Field Guide. https://vaccinemisinformation.guide