PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF SATURATION COVERAGE CAUSED BY MEDIA DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AMONGST THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN INDIA

Abstract

Introduction: As India battles a renewed wave of the Covid pandemic driven by newer strains of the virus, answers were sought for the paradox of the course taken by this disease in a nation of 1.4 billion that has so far reported among the lowest rate of mortality per million population while the media-driven perceptions in a country with long democratic traditions sound an alarming picture. This study was initiated to nd out the perceptions of a segment of the Indian general population as they nd themselves exposed to high voltage carpet coverage of pandemic related news powered in so small measure by the internet-data powered smart phone era in contrast to the earlier pandemic two decades ago and the one witnessed nearly a century ago. This study reveals that social media does exaggerate reality by the sheer avalanche of information and the study subjects seem to agree for the need to bring about some degree of control mechanism in the best interests of all stakeholders. Data was collected from 731 participants from all states of India by means of aMethodology: questionnaire made using Google Forms. On analysis of our data, we found that media coverage regarding the COVID-19 pandemic,Results: due to the widespread misinformation, has contributed to the spread of panic, anxiety, and hysteria. With this fear being psychological (39.9%) in a signicant number of people, more so in the older age groups. One of the most crucial ndings in our study was that a majority of the study population (65.9%) agreed that there should be lters set up on what is being posted on social media about news related to COVID-19. Conclusion: Despite mass media's great benet in amassing relevant data, it sometimes serves as a source for the generation, manipulation, and distribution of misinformation leading to widespread panic and stress among the public.