Did Covid-19 infect the news? How journalists, audiences and production processes have changed due to the pandemic

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Published: Sep 14, 2022
Updated: 2022-09-14
Versions:
2022-09-14 (3)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17163/uni.n37.2022.01
Keywords:
journalism, post-truth, fake news, disinformation, Covid-19, Production process, job insecurity, infodemics

Main Article Content

Vítor de Sousa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6051-0980
Edson Capoano
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6766-802X
Pedro Rodrigues Costa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1223-6462
Ivan Paganotti
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5662-4240

Abstract

This article focuses on journalistic activities in the context of the first wave of Covid-19, in 2020, when ahigh presence of post-truth and fake news was identified in news production, which is justified in addressing these two conceptual objects. The objective was to understand how problems in the production process, suchas job insecurity during the pandemic, allowed information gaps, which were filled by misinformation andinfodemics. For this, a quantitative method was used, with the application of an online survey to 365 participantsfrom Ibero-America during 2020, on production processes, work routines, and information generatedduring the quarantine of journalists, and consumption of information during confinement to journalists andonline news receivers. As a result, most journalists have changed their work routine, such as digital datachecking and preference for scientific sources. About half of news receivers valued press work positively,even though news consumption has generated negative prospects. As conclusions, there is a need to reviewcertain productive practices in the journalistic field, during exceptional situations such as the pandemic.

Article Details

Issue
No. 37 (2022): (September 2022-February 2023). A proposed agenda for digital communication research after the covid-19 pandemic in Iberoamerica
Section
Dossier Temático
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References

Survey available at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMwxkD-UvSbulCX_AtKIZA-vrlj0JlkUkXEKi4sFZ5M1UhVQ/closedform. Some results were published on “Portal dos Jornalistas” (Brazil) at https://www.portaldosjornalistas.com.br/o-coronavirus-e-os-veiculos-de-comunicacao-xviii/?fbclid=IwAR3knGT6wBzgL3uB6MhFzahogZBD3ViNsgx8aM7RZah3vOxQRDcd-nSt-_k. See more details in section 5.

According to the Moral Foundations Theory, narratives may contain foundations that relate to moral choices of individuals, thereby causing engagement, such as: (1) care / harm (concern for the suffering of others); (2) fairness / cheating (preference for reciprocity and fairness); (3) loyalty / betrayal (concern for the common good and prejudice against strangers); (4) authority / subversion (reference to domination and hierarchy); (5) sanctity / degradation (concern for purity); and (6) liberty / oppression (feelings of restraint and resentment towards those who dominate and restrain their liberty) (Graham et al., 2013).

Published in:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMwxkD-UvSbulCX_AtKIZA-vrlj0JlkUkXEKi4sFZ5M1UhVQ/closedform

Respectively, 121 journalists from press, 119 journalists from general media and 107 news consumers that are not journalists.

In this sense, in Portugal, the Sindicato de Jornalistas and Sindicato de Professores (Union of Journalists and Union of Teachers) have been developing a teacher-oriented training in the field of Education for Media, in several Portuguese cities. The purpose is to empower teachers to develop activities on Education for Media, following a project methodology and integrating students and other members from the school and educational communities. The trainers will be journalists and academic experts in the area of journalism who will address concepts related to media and journalism, based on analysis and discussions of international studies, connecting them to the exploration of pedagogical resources, in order to create and develop Education for Media projects, in the schools where the trainees perform their duties. In 2017, the Brazilian Ministry of Education approved the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (National Curricular Common Base), which included a critical reflection on media consumption and production in basic education, with the purpose of systematising discussions that already integrated disperse initiatives at different levels of formal and non-formal education in the country (Pegurer-Caprino; Martínez-Cerdá, 2016). In addition, several media outlets and information verifiers, such as Agência Lupa, offer teaching courses and materials that allow the public to adopt journalism verification practices in their daily lives (Paganotti, 2018). Recently, new media education initiatives started offering teaching materials through massive online courses for a broader audience, such as the “Vaza, Falsiane!” course (Paganotti et al., 2019).