U.S Audiences' Perceptions of Covid-19 and Conservative News Frames

Authors

  • T. Makana Chock Syracuse University
  • Se Jung Kim Syracuse University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v13i2p1180

Keywords:

News framing, COVID-19, risk prevention, political bias, conservatism

Abstract

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. conservative news downplayed the threat of the virus. Perceived risks of COVID-19 are an important factor in influencing citizens' willingness to comply with risk prevention measures. An online survey (N=269) of U.S. residents was conducted March 30 - April 1, 2020. We found that those who used partisan conservative news sources as their primary source of information about the virus were significantly less likely to view it as a threat, compared to those who cited Far Left, Center Left, and Center Right news sources. Politically conservative Far Right news audiences reported significantly lower estimates of their own COVID-19 risk, as well as that of their age group peers, the average person in the U.S., and the average senior citizen in the U.S.

Author Biographies

T. Makana Chock, Syracuse University

T. Makana Chock (PhD., Cornell) is an associate professor and the David J. Levidow Endowed Professor at the S. I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. She studies media psychology, examing the intersections of personality and social characteristics and media formats on audiences. Much of her research has focused on the impact of health and risk communication messages on audiences. She held the Newhouse Endowed Chair of Public Communications from 2013 to 2016.

Website: https://newhouse.syr.edu/faculty-staff/makana-chock

Se Jung Kim, Syracuse University

Se Jung Kim is a doctoral student at the S. I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. His research focuses on media psychology and the ways that audiences process and respond to media content in different formats of emerging media.

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Published

17-07-2020

How to Cite

Chock, T. M., & Kim, S. J. (2020). U.S Audiences’ Perceptions of Covid-19 and Conservative News Frames. PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO, 13(2), 1180–1189. https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v13i2p1180

Issue

Vol 13, N. 2 (2020). Special Issue:The strategic role of public sector communication in the framework of open government

Section

Research Notes

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