How China used the media to spread its Covid narrative — and win friends around the world

‘Over half of the 50 nations surveyed at the end of 2020 reported coverage of China had become more positive in their national media since the onset of the pandemic, while less than a quarter reported it had become increasingly negative.

‘The change was most favorable in Europe, which scored 6.3 on a scale of one to ten, where one is the most negative and ten is the most positive. China’s image plummeted in North America, coming in at 3.5.

‘The overall increase in positivity coincided with an uptick in Chinese outreach. Three-quarters of the journalists we surveyed said China had a visible presence in their national media, compared to 64% in a previous survey we conducted for IFJ in 2019.’

Read here (Nieman Lab, May 14, 2021)

Political warfare, inequity, and insufficient data in coverage of the vaccine rollout

‘Ellen Ruppel Shell, a professor of science journalism at Boston University, told me yesterday that vaccine framing can be “schizophrenic—alarmism followed by sometimes misleading reassurance.” This is true, for example, of many stories warning about vaccines’ possible reduced efficacy against new variants of the virus, whose scary headlines often belie more nuanced expert assessments and key questions that have yet to be answered...

‘It’s hard to generalize, obviously, but it’s increasingly clear that much vaccine coverage is stuck in conventional journalistic rhythms that don’t serve the story well. Given that the pandemic is a “once-in-a-hundred-years event, it’s time for journalists to step back and think about what our priorities need to be,” Shell told me. “We don’t just take notes and put them out there. Almost every piece should have some analysis in it.” In the course of this reflection, we need to reckon, too, with the idea that vaccines may not be a magic bullet. Elena Conis, a science historian and journalism professor at Berkeley, told me yesterday that her biggest concern with vaccine framing is that “we have rushed to cover, talk, and think about vaccination all while failing to have much harder conversations about other things we can do to keep this epidemic in check.”

Read here (Columbia Journalism Review, Feb 3, 2021)

After months of bashing Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, Western journalists in Moscow line up to be inoculated against Covid-19

‘Since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the registration of Sputnik V, the world's first vaccine against Covid-19, sections of the Western media have taken aim at a formula they’ve dubbed both dangerous and ineffective. However, in recent weeks, Moscow-based representatives of the very same outlets have lined up to receive the much-maligned Sputnik V. Living in Russia, it is no surprise that the correspondents have a much more realistic view of the country than their New York and London-based superiors.

‘On Friday, the New York Times’ Andrew Kramer revealed he had received his first dose of Sputnik V, praising the “bona fide accomplishment for Russian scientists continuing a long and storied practice of vaccine development,” even noting that Moscow has avoided some of the logistical problems seen in the West.’

Read here (RT, Jan 14, 2021)

For Covid-19, as with everything else, Americans on the right and left live in different universes when it comes to trusting the media

‘More in Common — a group that tries to “counter polarization” and “build bridges across dividing lines” — has a new report out this morning called “The New Normal,” which looks at “the impacts of COVID-19 on trust, social cohesion, democracy and expectations for an uncertain future.” It looks at seven countries (U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the Netherlands) and is based on surveys of about 14,000 people.’

This story focuses on ‘how people in [the] seven countries view the motives of the news media in covering the pandemic. Only in the United States is that a profoundly partisan question.’

Read here (Nieman Lab, Sept 17, 2020)

Murdoch's misinformation: Covid-19, China and climate change

 ‘Is Rupert Murdoch's media empire responsible for spreading deadly misinformation on COVID-19? From the United States to Australia, Murdoch's media empire regularly courts controversy. Its coverage of COVID-19, however, is on another level. The Listening Post's Flo Phillips reports on the Murdoch factor in COVID-19 coverage.’

Also: ‘The Listening Post's Richard Gizbert speaks to someone who has known Rupert Murdoch for decades and is now one of his most outspoken critics: The former prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull.’

View here (Aljazeera, August 8, 2020)

Coronavirus: the mask of white Australia drops in racist media coverage

Key points: Victims of racism say headlines can incite hate, fear and anger. More needs to be done to stop racism before it happens through education or a more responsible press.

‘Inquiry and curiosity are the best ways to surmount racism, as well-known racism academic and author of US bestseller White Fragility Robin DiAngelo tells me... As DiAngelo says to me: “The default of society is the reproduction of racial inequality, it is the norm. It is not an aberration. It is the default that all our institutions have set up, intentionally, to reproduce racial inequality for the benefit of white people. It was literally coded in law in both our [US and Australia] countries”. I just hope DiAngelo will be completely wrong one day.‘

Read here (South China Morning Post, May 30, 2020)

Amazon writes its own TV news segments to laud coronavirus pandemic response

‘Several local TV news stations recently broadcast strikingly similar reports that focused on the safety measures the online retail giant has implemented at its warehouses, according to a video compiled by the Courier, part of a progressive media company with ties to groups supporting the Democratic Party. That similarity is because the segments were based on scripts and footage provided by Amazon, journalists who received similar pitches from the company said on Twitter.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, May 27, 2020)

Time to wake up to Western media bias

‘Anyone without scales over his eyes and who has not succumbed to cerebral shampooing by the West will have realised by now that large parts of its media are biased, if not outright antagonistic, in their reporting of China.

‘Admittedly, Al Jazeera and CGTN are nowhere near CNN or the BBC in reach and brand value but any fair-minded reader/viewer who has followed their work for a sustained period knows their products are nothing to sniff at.

‘And not to forget: their own English language national or regional media too - whether it be the South China Morning Post, The Star in Malaysia, or The Straits Times and Channel NewsAsia in Singapore. They make no self-glorifying claims to being the gold standard for good journalism but they do try to be objective, fair and balanced.’

Read here (Straits Times, April 25, 2020)

The relation between media consumption and misinformation at the outset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the US

‘A US national probability-based survey during the early days of the SARS-CoV-2 spread in the US showed that, above and beyond respondents’ political party, mainstream broadcast media use (e.g., NBC News) correlated with accurate information about the disease’s lethality, and mainstream print media use (e.g., the New York Times) correlated with accurate beliefs about protection from infection. In addition, conservative media use (e.g., Fox News) correlated with conspiracy theories including believing that some in the CDC were exaggerating the seriousness of the virus to undermine the presidency of Donald Trump. Five recommendations are made to improve public understanding of SARS-CoV-2.’

Read here (Harvard Kennedy School Misinforrmation Review, April 20, 2020)

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