Abstract
Credible, reliable and consistent information to the public, as well as health professionals and decision makers, is crucial to help navigate uncertainty and risk in times of crisis and concern. Traditionally, information and health communications issued by respected and established government agencies have been regarded as factual, unbiased and credible. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is such an agency that addresses all aspects of health and public health on behalf of the U.S Government for the benefit of its citizens. In July 2020, the CDC issued guidelines on reopening schools which resulted in open criticism by the U.S. President and others, prompting a review and publication of revised guidelines together with a special “Statement on the Importance of Reopening Schools under COVID-19.” We hypothesize that this statement introduced bias with the intention to shift the public perception and media narrative in favor of reopening of schools. Using a mixed methods approach, including an online text analysis tool, we demonstrate that document title and structure, word frequencies, word choice, and website presentation did not provide a balanced account of the complexity and uncertainty surrounding school reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite available scientific guidance and practical evidence-based advice on how to manage infection risks when reopening schools, the CDC Statement was intentionally overriding possible parent and public health concerns. The CDC Statement provides an example of how political influence is exercised over the presentation of science in the context of a major pandemic. It was withdrawn by the CDC in November 2020.
Highlights
Covid-19 and Children Educational Instruction Social and emotional development Safety Nutrition Physical Activity Conclusion Total word count Rank Word/s Frequency School/schools Children Students Learning Covid Risk/RisksSafety website navigation elements
Using a mixed methods approach, including an online text analysis tool, we demonstrate that document title and structure, word frequencies, word choice, and website presentation did not provide a balanced account of the complexity and uncertainty surrounding school reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Statement provides an example of how political influence is exercised over the presentation of science in the context of a major pandemic
Summary
We used a mixed-methods approach to analyze the text and online presentation context of the CDC Statement. The authors manually analyzed the document structure and performed a word-by-word content, contextual and emotional connotation analysis [9]. This analysis was first conducted independently by each co-author, in a second step jointly reviewed to achieve consensus. We analyzed the presentation of the Statement in the context of the overall COVID-19 guidance for schools on the CDC’s website, looking at the placement of elements, integration in the website style and format and the relation to Section
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