Reporting on COVID-19: How Indian TV Media Deliver Threat and Uncertainty over Efficacy
Disha Batra *
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Punjabi University, Patiala, India.
Vivek Kumar
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Punjabi University, Patiala, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This paper investigated the Reporting on COVID-19: How Indian TV Media Deliver Threat and Uncertainty over Efficacy. A content analysis of Indian television news channels, investigating the news coverage during the initial outbreak of the virus in the country was done. Stories regarding COVID-19 from the top two television channels we’re analyzed. The empirical study was premised on the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) a fear appeal message processing model that has already been applied to health news coverage. Results show that media attention was immense, creating hype and sensationalizing the news stories. In the context of EPPM, the news content overemphasized threat over precautionary measures. Only one-third of the news stories mentioned the self and collective precautionary measures and any reference that such measures are effective was almost negligible.
Keywords: COVID-19, Evolutionary Cytogenetics, coronavirus, efficacy, Homosporous ferns, fear, Indian media, Multiple origins of polyploidy ferns, threat, uncertainty