My own research suggests that fear has played a particularly vital role in coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. For example, a Time Magazine study shows that there were 23 times more articles in English-language print news covering the coronavirus outbreak in its first month compared to the same time period for the Ebola epidemic in 2018. The current outbreak has been much more prominent in media coverage than recent epidemics, including Ebola. Research has consistently shown that when issues receive extensive media coverage and are prominent in the news agenda, they also come to be seen as more important by members of the public. In doing so, the news signals what issues merit our attention. While the news doesn’t necessarily tell us what to think, it tells us what to think about. Media coverage sets the agenda for public debate. Like other emotions, fear is contagious and can spread swiftly.
While fear is an emotion that we frequently experience as individuals, it can also be a shared and social emotion, one which circulates through groups and communities and shapes our reactions to ongoing events. Media coverage is vital to our shared conversations and plays a key role in regulating our emotions, including fear. The ongoing outbreak of the novel coronavirus has received extensive media attention, coverage that can tell us a lot about how uncertainty in the face of such an epidemic can all too easily breed fear.įor about a decade, I have been studying the role of emotions in journalism, including in the coverage of disasters and crises. They frighten us because they are unknown and unpredictable. Hutchinson is in the midst of a push to encourage residents to get vaccinated, combating what he called misinformation in a state where the vaccination rates are some of the lowest in the country.New contagious diseases are scary. Arkansas has seen cases spiking, with a new one-day record for hospitalizations earlier this week. With the highly contagious Delta variant now the dominant strain in the US, cases are on the rise everywhere. The Legislature was called back in session this week and is considering changes to the ban – but it may be difficult to build support for a change with the GOP majority. Students under 12 years old are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines. The governor now wants to amend the law to give schools the option to adopt their own mask requirements. “And yes - in hindsight, I wish that had not become law.” And … I’d already eliminated our statewide mask mandate.” “I knew that it would be overridden by the Legislature if I didn’t sign it. “Well, I signed it at the time because our cases were at a very low point,” Hutchinson, a Republican, told reporters at a news briefing on Tuesday, referring to the law he’d signed in April Asa Hutchinson said he regrets signing a law that blocked mask mandates as the state faces a surge in COVID-19 cases and a low vaccination rate. Arkansas governor regrets signing ban on mask mandatesĪrkansas Gov.
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