If a Tree Falls in the Forest: Presidential Press Conferences and Early Media Narratives about the COVID-19 Crisis
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, as we confronted questions about social distancing, masking wearing, and vaccines, public safety experts warned that the consequences of a misinformed population would be particularly dire due to the serious nature of the threat and necessity of severe collective act...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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HOPE
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media |
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| Online Access: | https://journalqd.org/article/view/3122 |
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| author | Masha Krupenkin Kai Zhu Dylan Walker David Rothschild |
| author_facet | Masha Krupenkin Kai Zhu Dylan Walker David Rothschild |
| author_sort | Masha Krupenkin |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, as we confronted questions about social distancing, masking wearing, and vaccines, public safety experts warned that the consequences of a misinformed population would be particularly dire due to the serious nature of the threat and necessity of severe collective action to keep the population safe. Thus, the media and the political elites (e.g., President of the United States) who possess the power to set the information agenda around COVID-19 bear a huge responsibility for the general welfare. Through automated text analysis of complete transcripts of national cable, network, and local news, we explore their narratives surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and we characterize the differences in which topics were covered and how they were covered by various media sources. Our analysis reveals polarized narratives around blame, racial and economic disparities, and scientific conclusions about COVID-19. Among the various agenda-setting mechanisms available to the president is daily press conferences, which provide a unique opportunity to leverage public exposure, accelerated by the state of crisis. We found both resonance and contrast between the narratives of media and President press conferences. However, as online search data revealed, public information-seeking behavior resemble media coverage more than the President's messages.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4c7e9f3b73d245ea96cf3a6f6ee5c0e3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2673-8813 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | HOPE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media |
| spelling | doaj-art-4c7e9f3b73d245ea96cf3a6f6ee5c0e32025-08-20T03:36:58ZengHOPEJournal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media2673-88132022-05-01210.51685/jqd.2022.011If a Tree Falls in the Forest: Presidential Press Conferences and Early Media Narratives about the COVID-19 CrisisMasha Krupenkin0Kai Zhu1Dylan Walker2David Rothschild3Boston CollegeMcGill UniversityChapman UniversityMicrosoft Research Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, as we confronted questions about social distancing, masking wearing, and vaccines, public safety experts warned that the consequences of a misinformed population would be particularly dire due to the serious nature of the threat and necessity of severe collective action to keep the population safe. Thus, the media and the political elites (e.g., President of the United States) who possess the power to set the information agenda around COVID-19 bear a huge responsibility for the general welfare. Through automated text analysis of complete transcripts of national cable, network, and local news, we explore their narratives surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and we characterize the differences in which topics were covered and how they were covered by various media sources. Our analysis reveals polarized narratives around blame, racial and economic disparities, and scientific conclusions about COVID-19. Among the various agenda-setting mechanisms available to the president is daily press conferences, which provide a unique opportunity to leverage public exposure, accelerated by the state of crisis. We found both resonance and contrast between the narratives of media and President press conferences. However, as online search data revealed, public information-seeking behavior resemble media coverage more than the President's messages. https://journalqd.org/article/view/3122SearchTelevisionTranscriptsPress ConferencesMainstream Media |
| spellingShingle | Masha Krupenkin Kai Zhu Dylan Walker David Rothschild If a Tree Falls in the Forest: Presidential Press Conferences and Early Media Narratives about the COVID-19 Crisis Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media Search Television Transcripts Press Conferences Mainstream Media |
| title | If a Tree Falls in the Forest: Presidential Press Conferences and Early Media Narratives about the COVID-19 Crisis |
| title_full | If a Tree Falls in the Forest: Presidential Press Conferences and Early Media Narratives about the COVID-19 Crisis |
| title_fullStr | If a Tree Falls in the Forest: Presidential Press Conferences and Early Media Narratives about the COVID-19 Crisis |
| title_full_unstemmed | If a Tree Falls in the Forest: Presidential Press Conferences and Early Media Narratives about the COVID-19 Crisis |
| title_short | If a Tree Falls in the Forest: Presidential Press Conferences and Early Media Narratives about the COVID-19 Crisis |
| title_sort | if a tree falls in the forest presidential press conferences and early media narratives about the covid 19 crisis |
| topic | Search Television Transcripts Press Conferences Mainstream Media |
| url | https://journalqd.org/article/view/3122 |
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