GUEST EDITOR’S NOTE: THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF MEDIA DURING COVID-19

Abstract

This special issue reflects some of the articles presented in 3rd International Conference of Media, Islam, and Communication (ICIMAC 2021) that was held virtually on 10th and 11th July 2021 organized by the Communication Program and New Media Communication Program, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). About seven articles from ICIMAC 2021 were selected for this issue and most of them convey the equivalent connotation entitled The Role and Impact of Media During COVID-19. These articles presented the various roles of media in transmitting information or creating awareness during the pandemic and its impact in shaping one’s attitude towards matters related to health issues. The current COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of crises and threatened global health. The impact of the outbreak covered from economics, education, politics, and many others. This global health crisis has affected the way people perceive today’s world and undeniably, media play a very crucial role during the pandemic as people rely so much on various media platforms for information related to COVID-19. Despite the diversity of this collective endeavor, the contributions fall into four areas of research but mostly in relation with the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) media and health communication, (2) information exposure towards behaviour change, (3) media dependency, and (4) other media and communication related issues. The chaotic situation of COVID-19 has challenged all media outlets to utilize their available platforms especially the social media at the utmost in transmitting related information, educating people on the danger of the virus, and even convincing them on the importance of vaccination (Arriage et. al, 2021). However, the challenge on how to transfer the knowledge raised interest of many researchers in the field of media and communication to explore. Currently, scholars believe that all media especially social media have the potential to deliver fast and effective information if they are used responsibly and ethically (Chan et. al, 2020).