The Media and The Pandemic – Is the Coverage Balanced?
Leslie Gottlieb
During the pandemic we have depended on the media - print, electronic and social media - for information on the latest variant, wearing masks, social distancing, COVID’s effects on the economy, the healthcare system, education, the arts, travel and more. We have been inundated with daily - often hourly - alerts. Recent headlines include “Extra Child Benefit Ends as Covid Explodes in the US” lead story NY Times, 1/3/22, “Omicron Takes Toll on Business” page one Wall St Journal, 1/3/22. For a long time MSNBC ran a daily real time ticker on the number of hospitalizations nationwide. Some days I just cannot read or watch the news. I feel overwhelmed and powerless.
I am not alone.
Now research suggests that constant media exposure about COVID-19 may be hazardous to your mental health. A 2/2021 study of 1,545 adults by scholars who study the psychological effects of crises, “Clearly showed that those experiencing the most media exposure about the pandemic had more stress and depression.” ( J. Brian Houston, Associate Professor of Communication and Public Health, University of Missouri-Columbia and Jennifer M. First, College of Social Work, University of Tennessee). They conclude that “COVID-19 has created an infodemic; members of the public are overwhelmed with more information than they can manage.”
Against the avalanche of upsetting news sometimes there is positive coverage. In the spring of 2020 doctors, nurses and other essential workers on the front lines were featured prominently on TV, radio and in print. On April 5, 2020 The NY Times ran a full page editorial highlighting the extraordinary efforts of dozens of Americans across the country such as “Dr. Mary Krebs, a family physician outside Dayton, who treated her patients via telemedicine from her own bed even as she battled fever, shortness of breath and a dry cough — telltale signs of coronavirus infection.”
The role of journalism is to inform us, to present fair, accurate, unbiased information. I am not addressing social media here. According to the American Press Institute, a national nonprofit educational organization, “The purpose of good journalism is to give people the information they need to make better decisions. In other words journalism is supposed to empower.” Yes, I need to know the positivity rate for Omicron in my area and where to get booster shots. That helps my physical health. But what about my mental health? For the past 2 years has the coverage truly been balanced? I don’t think so.
To balance the endless stories about overwhelming hospitalizations, political polarization and antivaxxers we need countervailing coverage of another side of the story – how average Americans are helping their communities every day by delivering food to homebound elderly, writing letters to shut-ins and nonprofit staff doing extraordinary work. Such coverage will inspire me (and perhaps others) to volunteer my time or money.
This balanced approach is used by The Christian Science Monitor. Its tagline is “Get the stories that empower and uplift daily.” They have a podcast called “People Making a Difference” which talks to “ordinary individuals worldwide who … find innovative answers, fuel generosity, and inspire others to uplift their fellow human beings.“
In 2021 Lindsay McGinnis was the Monitor’s Points of Progress reporter. In her year-end 2021 column “A Year’s Worth of Progress” she wrote about 257 moments of progress. She stated that these moments are “Evidence that humanity is capable of working together to advance a common good.” She contrasted that with NY Times year-end special section “On the Future, Americans Can Agree, It Doesn’t Look Good.” She concluded, “Stories that touch on potential solutions to the world’s problems…have an empowering effect on audiences that can counter (negative) trends.”
As communications experts and PR professionals we have a role to play in this too. We can look for and pitch the positive articles about our clients’ unsung heroes and heroines and how they are making the world a better place.
Ms. McGinnis concludes her 2021 column, ”There’s always a reason for hope, if you look for it.”
And I’d add, “If you pitch it.“
About the Author: Leslie Gottlieb is a seasoned professional in integrated strategic communications, media, marketing and crisis communications. She consults for many leading nonprofit organizations. She was the 2019 President of the New York Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and has taught numerous courses at NYU and other universities.
