July 10, 2022 • 09:10 - 09:20 | Sunday
Parallel 14 - Zhumu Conference: 620698071 : Zhumu Conference: 620698071
Parallel 14: News production and consumption for science and health

This research project investigates how foreigners living in Chinese cities consume news before and after the breaking out of COVID-19. Many existing studies, e.g. Allcott et al. (2020) and Motta et al. (2020), suggest that polarization in media coverage of pandemics have facilitated the diffusion of misinformation which would alert people with better media literacy to look for multiple sources for more trustworthy information during when critical events happen. As many diasporas do not speak the local languages and usually seek news from non-local news organizations they trust, they could be subject to stronger influences of media polarization. However, not much about this is known as few studies have focused on how diasporas consume pandemic related news before and after the breaking-out of it.

 

In light of this, this research project specifically looks at how media polarization and people’s level of trust in the media influence diasporas’ news consumption habits before and after the breaking out of a pandemic by taking the case of foreigners who live in China and has undergone the COVID-19 pandemic as a case. A total number of 12 foreigners who live in Suzhou City in China were sampled for an hour long face-to-face interview to discuss their views on media polarization and their trust in the media as well as their news consumption habits before and after the breaking out of COVID-19.

 

The analysis on the interview data shows that the breaking out of COVID-19 has made media polarization to a more severe extent, which is most evident on social media. Participants report extracting COVID-19 related information from media with a higher frequency and an attempt to avoid polarized content amid rampaging misinformation/disinformation. Subsequently, participants' level of trust in media has declined to varying degrees. While most agree to stay skeptical of information from unverified sources, they argue that legacy media remain the most credible news outlet. This study helps to demonstrate diasporas' news consumption in urban China. It is hoped that this work will have a beneficial impact on the making of local communities' preventive policies following COVID-19's future development.


Authors
  • Weinan YUAN

    Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC)

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