scholarly journals Development of a Codebook of Online Anti-Vaccination Rhetoric to Manage COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Hughes ◽  
C. Miller-Idriss ◽  
R. Piltch-Loeb ◽  
K. White ◽  
M. Creizis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Pandemic Vaccine ◽  
Qualitative Coding ◽  
Health Messaging

AbstractVaccine hesitancy (delay in obtaining a vaccine, despite availability) represents a significant hurdle to managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy is in part related to the prevalence of anti-vaccine misinformation and disinformation, which are spread through social media and user-generated content platforms. This study uses qualitative coding methodology to identify salient narratives and rhetorical styles common to anti-vaccine and COVID-denialist media. It organizes these narratives and rhetorics according to theme, imagined antagonist, and frequency. Most frequent were narratives centered on “corrupt elites” and rhetorics appealing to the vulnerability of children. The identification of these narratives and rhetorics may assist in developing effective public health messaging campaigns, since narrative and emotion have demonstrated persuasive effectiveness in other public health communication settings.

scholarly journals Development of a Codebook of Online Anti-Vaccination Rhetoric to Manage COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7556
Author(s):  
Brian Hughes ◽  
Cynthia Miller-Idriss ◽  
Rachael Piltch-Loeb ◽  
Beth Goldberg ◽  
Kesa White ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Pandemic Vaccine ◽  
Qualitative Coding ◽  
Health Messaging

Vaccine hesitancy (delay in obtaining a vaccine, despite availability) represents a significant hurdle to managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy is in part related to the prevalence of anti-vaccine misinformation and disinformation, which are spread through social media and user-generated content platforms. This study uses qualitative coding methodology to identify salient narratives and rhetorical styles common to anti-vaccine and COVID-denialist media. It organizes these narratives and rhetorics according to theme, imagined antagonist, and frequency. Most frequent were narratives centered on “corrupt elites” and rhetorics appealing to the vulnerability of children. The identification of these narratives and rhetorics may assist in developing effective public health messaging campaigns, since narrative and emotion have demonstrated persuasive effectiveness in other public health communication settings.

scholarly journals A topic analysis of traditional and social media news coverage of the early COVID-19 pandemic and implications for public health communication

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wallace Chipidza ◽  
Elmira Akbaripourdibazar ◽  
Tendai Gwanzura ◽  
Nicole M. Gatto
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
News Media ◽  
Latent Dirichlet Allocation ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Cable News ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Public Health Officials

AbstractKnowledge gaps may initially exist among scientists, medical and public health professionals during pandemics, which are fertile grounds for misinformation in news media. We characterized and compared COVID-19 coverage in newspapers, television, and social media, and discussed implications for public health communication strategies that are relevant to an initial pandemic response. We conducted a Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), an unsupervised topic modelling technique, analysis of 3,271 newspaper articles, 40 cable news shows transcripts, 96,000 Twitter posts, and 1,000 Reddit posts during March 4 - 12, 2020, a period chronologically early in the timeframe of the COVID-19 pandemic. Coverage of COVID-19 clustered on topics such as epidemic, politics, and the economy, and these varied across media sources. Topics dominating news were not predominantly health-related, suggesting a limited presence of public health in news coverage in traditional and social media. Examples of misinformation were identified particularly in social media. Public health entities should utilize communication specialists to create engaging informational content to be shared on social media sites. Public health officials should be attuned to their target audience to anticipate and prevent spread of common myths likely to exist within a population. This will help control misinformation in early stages of pandemics.

scholarly journals Spreading (Dis)Trust: Covid-19 Misinformation and Government Intervention in Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 458-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Lovari
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
General State ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Strategic Role ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Impact

The commentary focuses on the spread of Covid-19 misinformation in Italy, highlighting the dynamics that have impacted on its pandemic communication. Italy has recently been affected by a progressive erosion of trust in public institutions and a general state of information crisis regarding matters of health and science. In this context, the politicization of health issues and a growing use of social media to confront the Coronavirus “infodemic” have led the Italian Ministry of Health to play a strategic role in using its official Facebook page to mitigate the spread of misinformation and to offer updates to online publics. Despite this prompt intervention, which increased the visibility and reliability of public health communication, coordinated efforts involving different institutions, media and digital platform companies still seem necessary to reduce the impact of misinformation, as using a multichannel strategy helps avoid increasing social and technological disparities at a time of crisis.

scholarly journals Evaluations of Self-Focused Versus Other-Focused Arguments for Social Distancing: An Extension of Moral Matching Effects

2020 ◽  
pp. 194855062094785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Luttrell ◽  
Richard E. Petty
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Moral Issue ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Moral Arguments ◽  
Critical Insight ◽  
Effective Public Health

The coronavirus pandemic has raised pressing questions about effective public health communication. Prior research has shown a persuasive advantage of arguments emphasizing a behavior’s benefits for others’ health compared to benefits for the recipients. We suggest that other-focused (vs. self-focused) messages function more as moral arguments and should thus be especially persuasive to people who moralize public health. Across three studies, people perceived other-focused (vs. self-focused) appeals for social distancing more as moral arguments. Further, evaluations of these messages’ persuasiveness were moderated by how much the recipient already moralized public health. Other-focused arguments tended to be perceived as more persuasive than self-focused arguments primarily among people who saw public health as a moral issue, which had corresponding effects on social distancing intentions. These findings provide critical insight to health communicators and underscore the importance of understanding that a message’s impact can depend on audience characteristics.

scholarly journals A topic analysis of traditional and social media news coverage of the early COVID-19 pandemic and implications for public health communication

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Wallace Chipidza ◽  
Elmira Akbaripourdibazar ◽  
Tendai Gwanzura ◽  
Nicole M. Gatto
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Latent Dirichlet Allocation ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Cable News ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Pandemic Response

ABSTRACT Objective: To characterize and compare early coverage of COVID-19 in newspapers, television, and social media, and discuss implications for public health communication strategies that are relevant to an initial pandemic response. Methods: Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), an unsupervised topic modelling technique, analysis of 3,271 newspaper articles, 40 cable news shows transcripts, 96,000 Twitter posts, and 1,000 Reddit posts during March 4 - 12, 2020, a period chronologically early in the timeframe of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Coverage of COVID-19 clustered on topics such as epidemic, politics, and the economy, and these varied across media sources. Topics dominating news were not predominantly health-related, suggesting a limited presence of public health in news coverage in traditional and social media. Examples of misinformation were identified particularly in social media. Conclusions: Public health entities should utilize communication specialists to create engaging informational content to be shared on social media sites. Public health officials should be attuned to their target audience to anticipate and prevent spread of common myths likely to exist within a population. This may help control misinformation in early stages of pandemics.

scholarly journals COVID-19 dissensus in Australia: Negotiating uncertainty in public health communication and media commentary on a novel pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-263
Author(s):  
Arjun Rajkhowa
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Expert Advice ◽  
Communication Failure ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Information Gaps ◽  
Health Messaging

The emergence of an epidemic or pandemic presents significant challenges for public health communication. The shifting and uncertain nature of an epidemic or pandemic necessitates a dynamic communication strategy. However, negotiating uncertainty and information gaps can be challenging for both government and media. This commentary focuses on two aspects of selected Australian media commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic: media commentators’ negotiation of gaps in the available information about the pandemic and commentators’ assessment of perceived initial inconsistency in the government’s public health messaging. It analyses how a perceived inability to reconcile gaps in the expert advice can be interpreted by media commentators as an indication of public health communication failure.

scholarly journals 28.I. Workshop: Communication in public health: neglected but essential

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Common View ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Communication Modalities ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The realization that not only research but also effective communication is essential to promoting and protecting the health of the public was a fundamental milestone in the emerging discipline of public health communication. Although we are beginning to talk more and more about health communication, it is, in the common view, still too often identified as a soft skill of the individual professional, and therefore as a minor competence in public health. Fortunately, many of today's public health leaders realize that promoting health and protecting the public require effective public health communication - as emerged clearly during EUPHA2019 conference in Marseille. The essential components of the communication process (channel, source, receiver, and message) are dynamic and change continuously in public health: emergencies follow one another rapidly, and communication channels evolve very quickly in the digital era. The impact, trust, and authority of traditional media are in decline. People are also willing to actively participate and share their views and information, including on health issues, through social networks. This explains the emergence of the new social media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok) as a central space for communicating and re-connecting with the public. Websites were mentioned as widely used to convey health messages, like ongoing health campaigns addressed to different groups (e.g. campaign on seasonal influenza vaccination) or during crisis communication (e.g. absolutely up to date is the example of coronavirus disease 2019). This workshop aims to explore the importance of appropriate communication by analysing practical examples of the diversity of communication modalities, language, target audiences and objectives. Furthermore, public health communication, to be effective, requires an integrated approach to engage the relevant stakeholders such as research institutes, health professionals, partner organisations (e.g. private institutions), policymakers, associations (e.g. population representatives, patients' associations, CSOs/NGOs, citizens associations protecting the poor) and individuals. The use of health communication principles is fundamental at all levels, from government organizations and agencies at central and sub-national level to individuals and citizens: public health experts need to advocate policymakers and all stakeholders, who interact with each other determine the health system and its governance and are involved in the decision-making process, to empower the population, that never more than now require to be the principal actor in their own health decision. Key messages Public health communication is an essential component of any effective public health strategy and initiative, yet it is often neglected and under-resourced. Communication in public health is multifaceted: it is required in a diverse range of scenarios; it may target different population groups and engage various institutions and experts.

scholarly journals Evaluations of Self-Focused versus Other-Focused Arguments for Social Distancing: An Extension of Moral Matching Effects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Luttrell ◽  
Richard Petty
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Moral Issue ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Moral Arguments ◽  
Critical Insight ◽  
Effective Public Health

The coronavirus pandemic has raised pressing questions about effective public health communication. Prior research has shown a persuasive advantage of arguments emphasizing a behavior’s benefits for others’ health, compared to benefits for the recipients. We suggest that other-focused (vs. self-focused) messages function more as moral arguments and should thus be especially persuasive to people who moralize public health. Across three studies, people perceived other-focused (vs. self-focused) appeals for social distancing more as moral arguments. Further, evaluations of these messages’ persuasiveness were moderated by how much the recipient already moralized public health. Other-focused arguments tended to be perceived as more persuasive than self-focused arguments primarily among people who saw public health as a moral issue, which had corresponding effects on social distancing intentions. These findings provide critical insight to health communicators and underscore the importance of understanding that a message’s impact can depend on audience characteristics.

Public Health Communication and Engagement on Social Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Teichmann ◽  
Aengus Bridgman ◽  
Sean Nossek ◽  
Peter John Loewen ◽  
Taylor Owen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Health Information ◽  
National Accounts ◽  
City Governments ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Cross Platform

BACKGROUND Social media provides governments the opportunity to directly communicate with their constituents. During a pandemic, reaching as many citizens as possible with health messaging is critical to reducing the spread of the disease. This study evaluates efforts to spread healthcare information by Canadian local, provincial, and federal governments during the first five months of the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study explores engagement patterns with government COVID-19 information shared on social media. It quantitatively evaluates platform-specific dynamics, including meta-data of posts such as account type, number of followers, type of content included, and time of post. It then performs exploratory, theory-building content analysis on outlier communications to identify previously under-examined features that contribute to engagement. METHODS We collect all health-related communications coming from government accounts on Facebook and Twitter and analyze the data using a nested mixed method approach. We first identify quantifiable features linked with citizen engagement. Then, we perform content analysis on those posts with the highest and highest negative residuals to identify content-specific engagement patterns. RESULTS We find considerable within and cross-platform heterogeneity in the relationship between embedded media type and engagement with public health information on social media. On Twitter, public health tweets containing videos receive 121 percent more engagements than those which are text-only, at P<.001. Images receive 35 percent more at P<.001. On Facebook text statuses dominate, with links receiving 39 percent fewer engagements, at P<.001, and videos a 26 percent decrease, also at P<.001. Even more, we find that who posts is more important than what is posted. Controlling for different audience sizes, tweets from the Prime Minister generate 727 percent more engagements than city governments', at P<.001. On Facebook this increases to 5640 percent, still at P<.001. The discrepancy between local and national accounts is larger on Facebook, where mayors, city governments, and local health authorities receive the least engagement. On both platforms premiers and provincial health authorities receive the second and third highest levels of engagement, highlighting the importance of sub-national officials in public health communication. All of these estimates are statistically significant at P<.001. In our qualitative analysis, we find a consistent relationship between content and over- or under performance, relative to our predicted levels of engagement. Concise messages with direct appeals are overrepresented among posts with large positive residuals, as are those which include high quality media, or which leverage pop-culture references or influencers. On the other hand, low quality video and infographics, lengthy policy descriptions, and negative news routinely generate fewer engagements than predicted. CONCLUSIONS We make two critical contributions to existing knowledge about government communication, particularly during public health crises. We identify and theorize cross-platform variations in strategy effectiveness and draw attention to specific, evidence-based practices that can increase engagement with government health information.

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