Journalists on Covid-19 Journalism

Communication Ecology of Pandemic Reporting

Bibliographic Data

ID3758345
AuthorsMildred F Perreault (0000-0002-4665-9586, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA, corresponding author), Gregory Perreault (0000-0002-6645-1117, Appalachian State University), Gregory P Perreault (Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA)
Year2021
Volume65
Issue7
Pages976-991
Publication date2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0002764221992813
OpenAlexW3128280722
LanguageEN
Citations received103
References cited26

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists have the challenging task of gathering and distributing accurate information. Journalists exist as a part of an ecology in which their work influences and is influenced by the environment that surrounds it. Using the framework of disaster communication ecology, this study explores the discursive construction of journalism during the COVID-19 crisis. To understand this process in the field of journalism, we unpacked discourses concerning the coronavirus pandemic collected from interviews with journalists during the pandemic and from the U.S. journalism trade press using the Discourses of Journalism Database. Through discourse analysis, we discovered that during COVID-19 journalists discursively placed themselves in a responsible but vulnerable position within the communication ecology-not solely as a result of the pandemic but also from environmental conditions that long preceded it. Journalists found their reporting difficult during the pandemic and sought to mitigate the forces challenging their work as they sought to reverse the flow of misinformation

Biology · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Infectious disease (medical specialty) · Journalism · Media studies · Misinformation · Pandemic · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Work (physics) · Ecology · Engineering · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Public Relations and Crisis Communication

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