Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Oct 23, 2023
Date Accepted: May 14, 2024
Partisan media, trust, and media literacy: Regression analysis of predictors of COVID-19 knowledge
ABSTRACT
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant misinformation event, aided by the speed and scale of digital and social media and certain news agencies’ and politicians’ active dissemination of misinformation. The World Health Organization has used the term “infodemic” to describe the confusion and damage caused by false information about the virus and its prevention and control. Though health professionals have traditionally enjoyed higher levels of trust than those from other democratic institutions, partisan division over the COVID-19 pandemic response has contributed to a decline in trust. Further, individuals who reported trusting more conservative news media believed COVID-19 misinformation.
Objective:
This study explored the association between institutional and healthcare professional trust, media use, media literacy, and COVID-19 knowledge.
Methods:
An online survey of U.S. adults (n = 1,498) was administered using Amazon Mechanical Turk (Mturk) to measure knowledge of general COVID-19 information, as well as common myths about the virus. Participants also answered a series of questions about their media and news habits, their media literacy skills, and their levels of trust in institutions that were integral to the process of informing, mitigating, and preventing COVID-19.
Results:
Results of a hierarchical regression found that demographic factors such as age, education, community of residence, political affiliation, institutional trust, news consumption, and media literacy are associated with COVID-19 knowledge. People who identify as right-leaning, watch Fox News, have lower levels of institutional trust, and lower levels of media literacy scored lower on COVID-19 knowledge questions than those who identify as left-leaning, have higher levels of trust and media literacy, and do not watch Fox News.
Conclusions:
The partisan media ecosystem can reinforce existing political beliefs and trust in institutions. The media outlets people turn to in health emergencies and the degree of agency to which they feel they can discern credible information may impact what they know about the event.
Citation
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