Irish audiences and news information from official sources during Covid-19

Audiences exist in highly personalised, high-choice media environments built on a hybrid of established traditional brands and informal digital networks. Officials trying to reach the public must navigate such spaces, but public reluctance to consume news coverage is a challenge for health and gover...

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Main Author: Wheatley Dawn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2022-08-01
Series:Administration
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2022-0017
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author Wheatley Dawn
author_facet Wheatley Dawn
author_sort Wheatley Dawn
collection DOAJ
description Audiences exist in highly personalised, high-choice media environments built on a hybrid of established traditional brands and informal digital networks. Officials trying to reach the public must navigate such spaces, but public reluctance to consume news coverage is a challenge for health and government officials when trying to communicate with and inform the public during a national health crisis like Covid-19. Based on a representative survey (N=2,031) from the 2021 Reuters Digital News Report, this article focuses on Irish audiences’ information sources during the pandemic; in particular, how government and political sources were used and perceived. The article is a secondary analysis of the data set and focuses on three questions from the survey related to (i) sources of information about Covid-19, (ii) concern about sources of false or misleading information about Covid-19, and (iii) sources of local information about politics and local updates on Covid-19. The article finds that official sources were relatively effective in being heard, and that health agencies like the Health Service Executive and the National Public Health Emergency Team were more salient than politicians, suggesting the pandemic was perhaps apolitical in the eyes of the public, which is often a key strategy for effective crisis communication. Politicians and government actors also succeeded in not being perceived as the main source of concern in terms of false or misleading information, as audiences were more worried about activists. The article also reiterates the importance of health officials reaching out beyond traditional news distribution channels to engage groups who may not access news through traditional channels.
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spelling doaj.art-54fc8ec86318446ab57aec1a168b6fd02022-12-22T02:17:14ZengSciendoAdministration2449-94712022-08-0170373210.2478/admin-2022-0017Irish audiences and news information from official sources during Covid-19Wheatley Dawn0School of Communications, Dublin City University, IrelandAudiences exist in highly personalised, high-choice media environments built on a hybrid of established traditional brands and informal digital networks. Officials trying to reach the public must navigate such spaces, but public reluctance to consume news coverage is a challenge for health and government officials when trying to communicate with and inform the public during a national health crisis like Covid-19. Based on a representative survey (N=2,031) from the 2021 Reuters Digital News Report, this article focuses on Irish audiences’ information sources during the pandemic; in particular, how government and political sources were used and perceived. The article is a secondary analysis of the data set and focuses on three questions from the survey related to (i) sources of information about Covid-19, (ii) concern about sources of false or misleading information about Covid-19, and (iii) sources of local information about politics and local updates on Covid-19. The article finds that official sources were relatively effective in being heard, and that health agencies like the Health Service Executive and the National Public Health Emergency Team were more salient than politicians, suggesting the pandemic was perhaps apolitical in the eyes of the public, which is often a key strategy for effective crisis communication. Politicians and government actors also succeeded in not being perceived as the main source of concern in terms of false or misleading information, as audiences were more worried about activists. The article also reiterates the importance of health officials reaching out beyond traditional news distribution channels to engage groups who may not access news through traditional channels.https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2022-0017governmentpolitical communicationsmediacovid-19ireland
spellingShingle Wheatley Dawn
Irish audiences and news information from official sources during Covid-19
Administration
government
political communications
media
covid-19
ireland
title Irish audiences and news information from official sources during Covid-19
title_full Irish audiences and news information from official sources during Covid-19
title_fullStr Irish audiences and news information from official sources during Covid-19
title_full_unstemmed Irish audiences and news information from official sources during Covid-19
title_short Irish audiences and news information from official sources during Covid-19
title_sort irish audiences and news information from official sources during covid 19
topic government
political communications
media
covid-19
ireland
url https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2022-0017
work_keys_str_mv AT wheatleydawn irishaudiencesandnewsinformationfromofficialsourcesduringcovid19