Media platforms, including mass media and social media, have played an extremely crucial role in providing all the essential information concerning the Coronavirus. It was in a way similar to the previous pandemics faced by us, like SARS (2003), H1N1 (2009), and MERS (2012). All of these were also the pandemics where the media contribution was significant to the COVID-19 suffering and issue. The media has said to have played an active role ever since the first case was known or detected. The role of mass media and public health services and communication from December 31, 2019, to July 15, 2020, making scientific implications. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights various issues including social, cultural, and economic issues ascending from the media's controversialities. Media coverage of the virus news during geographical lockdowns, extended quarantines, and financial and social hardships induced fear and caused psychological stress.
Ever since the beginning of COVID-19, not everyone was aware and informed about the virus and therefore had created a variant knowledge about the same by spreading misinformation, fake news, edited pictures and rumours. Because of this, a lot of nuisance and panic was created which meddled with the attempt to handle this situation a little differently. The speedy spread of this misinformation has not just taken place in real life, but also through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube which became a dynamic concern for the government as well as the public health authorities, who were only trying to hold control over the situation. Distortion related to medicine and medical services and unobjective and false content about the COVID-19 pandemic has been spreading on social media at an extraordinary pace ever since the beginning of the pandemic.
Justifying the initiation of rumours and misinformation during the COVID-19 epidemic had become decisive, since misinformation and fake news created nothing but fear, anxiety and panic among people, which has only contributed to cause more mental health related issues, if not the virus itself. The news or information was not confirmed by any authorities and it continued to spread which made an extreme impact on the minds of the people. Governments from across the world have responded to hold the misinformation and is still a struggle to hold it tight as it is an extremely quick process for anyone to spread information that does not hold the truth.
Despite all of this, media has played a global, wide-reaching role in coronavirus tracking of disease and updates through live updates dashboard. The number of cases, areas affected the least and the most and continuous PSAs on safety measures during this time were some of the things that were exceptionally covered by media. The media timely involved with the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and enabled reach to unimaginable extents to public health service providers. It had become noticeable how seriously people had started taking the safety measures by staying at home and adopting healthy habits like proper sanitisation of oneself and the surroundings, regularity of washing hands, avoiding social meets, practicing social distancing, wearing a mask whenever outside their own houses etc. This had turned out to be extremely helpful to the government as the cases had existed, but were limited. During lockdown, people were forced to live a life that was the bare minimum, or the one that is basic for survival. Media armoured guidelines daily, and had used interesting ways to portray the importance of all the provided guidelines and safety measures that people were encouraged to follow.
For example, to convey the importance of personal hygiene to prevent the spread of COVID-19, germ protection brand Dettol launched a new ad film. It used simple illustrative graphics to show how washing hands with soap keeps germs away during the lockdown and talks about maintaining precautions like social distancing. The film had been created by McCann India and in no way did it promote Dettol as a brand, instead, it focused on how hygiene was important in these trying times.
Mass media has an authoritative role in the world and it can be a pilot for various things as it is something that reaches the mass. Some of the major things that it has helped in, especially in the context of COVID-19, was providing an integrated platform for public health-related communications, inclusive healthcare education guidelines, and vigorous social distancing strategies. For example, the doctor-journalists who usually play a supporting role in network newscasts had now become leading performers, they were now addressing and encouraging the masses to ask questions through a public helpline number. It has efficiently proved to act as a medium that can enable and ensure equality and end discrimination regarding healthcare- giving and receiving. The media has proven to be the debatably dependable source of information, but it is necessary to understand further as media, in general, including social media and other forms, has and will be an aide for battling the COVID-19 and among the primary brisk sources of information if anything happens anywhere.
Media coverage and public opinion can have a substantial effect on all sectors in deciding the need for public health. Mass media is said to be a majorly critical cause of public perceptions of any kind. Through media, people are recognized as the ones who can either worsen the situation or help in uplifting or bettering the wrong. In this context, again, they are the ones that need to be informed properly to comprehend a decision of combating the whole virus situation sensibly and calmly.
The information regarding risk is presented in such a way that stimulates the perception related to the risks of the situation, especially that of the media reporting of a pandemic crisis. Something called "Telemedicine" gained huge popularity at this time. Telemedicine is a service provided only to patients for health-related advice, solving queries, and monitoring diseases via a secure connection, thus maintaining patient-doctor confidentiality. It has said to become the backbone of clinical practice during the covid time. Virtual treatment of patients had progressed at the very beginning of the pandemic. People were scared and paranoid of going to hospitals for every major or minor issue. A helpline was set up, enabling people to decide whether their symptoms accounted for COVID-19 testing. Media was used to normalise and promote the usage of telemedicine and it was better for everyone as it helped maintain norms of the lockdown. TelaDoc Health and Doctor On Deman, Inc. are two examples of telemedicine companies that gained traction during the pandemic.
Another major role of media was that it helped the countries predict the future of the outbreak and, henceforth, enabled them to take necessary measures at suitable times. This also kept scientists and researchers informed and, in a way, assisted them to develop different models regarding the pandemic by composing and administrating the cases and deaths at different places. Media has become an influential source that holds the power to affect and control disease outcomes in several ways. Since media is presented in variability and limitlessness, it can play all kinds of roles- Positive as well as negative.
We are aware of how everything had majorly shifted to online businesses and markets. This is also where media played a very vital role. Start-ups had shifted to online businesses and there were new home-grown businesses that gradually gained huge admiration and popularity. Social media platforms like Instagram had become a base to promote various small businesses like handmade jewellery, scrunchies, homemade face masks etc. Thrifting too became a very appreciated attempt to help ensure sustainability in the environment. They also became well-known because they would ensure proper social distancing as it was an online transaction which meant almost no physical contact, and most owners took to Reels, an Instagram feature, to show that the products were sanitised thoroughly and packed with care before being shipped. Media was among the most extensive ways to promote these businesses and also bestowed ways to keep everyone busy.
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