Abstract
This study examines the effects of risk comparisons in mainstream media during the Covid-19 outbreak that either expressed the severity of the outbreak or downplayed it by comparing the mortality rates of the disease to those of other risks. In an online experiment of undergraduate students at a large university in the U.S. Mountain West (n = 78) in early May 2020, we found that trust in government agencies played an important role in how people interpret risk messages in media. When the risks are amplified, those who hold low levels of trust in government agencies are more likely to report higher levels of anxiety. When risks are downplayed, people who hold high levels of trust in government agencies are more likely to report greater risk perceptions than those who hold low levels of trust in government agencies. The implications are discussed.
Highlights
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, mainstream media sources have both downplayed and elaborated upon the risks of the disease
This study explores how different risk comparisons made in news media impacted public perceptions during Covid-19
The goal of this study was to examine the impacts various comparisons of risk in mainstream media can have on risk perceptions and anxiety levels during an emergent disease outbreak
Summary
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, mainstream media sources have both downplayed and elaborated upon the risks of the disease. In early March 2020, U.S President Donald Trump compared the disease to seasonal influenza, saying that the number of deaths occurring from each was comparable, effectively beginning months of messaging that minimized the risks of Covid-19 (Qiu and Bouchard 2020). As early as mid-March 2020, Dr Fauci described Covid-19 as being 10 times more lethal than the flu in front of the Congress (Bloomberg 2020). Comparisons of the rate of Covid-19 deaths to those of deaths from other prominent and common risks beyond the flu were adopted in mainstream media (McCann et al, 2020). An April 2020 survey showed that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the primary federal government agency providing guidance and protocols during health crises, was among the most trusted sources of information for Covid-19, with nearly nine in 10 Americans reporting trust in the agency (Ballew et al, 2020)
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