Abstract
COVID-19 hit the world last year, causing enormous losses in every field. Media was a key player during this worldwide disaster since it could provide people with the most recent updates about the pandemic. However, the news flows were unstoppable, with much contradictory information leading people to hope or despair. Initially, the Arab media responded adequately, yet there were numerous fake data about the number of cases and the disease itself. The preferred risk communication plan for media includes improving cooperation with major governmental organizations for verifying information, developing messages, and providing feedback.
Introduction
The end of 2019 brought disturbing news about the appearance in China and the beginning of the active spread around the world of a new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes a disease under the international name COVID-19 (COVID-19 is a coronavirus disease-19, as it was politically correctly called in the World Health Organization). By March 10, 2020, more than 110 thousand people were infected with it reliably, with laboratory confirmation, all over the world (“Effects of the COVID-19”, 2020). And now, it is spreading much faster outside of China than in China itself. The media played a vital role regarding the information spread (Abbas et al., 2021). Hence, the primary goal of this research is to identify the part of UAE-based media channels in informing people about the pandemic and their response to the disaster.
Previous Research
Once the disease began to spread, the media channels reacted quickly, suggesting a severe menace to humankind. According to various sources, from 70 to 95% of all materials released by the media worldwide since December 2019 are somehow devoted to the coronavirus (“Effects of the COVID-19”, 2020). The attendance of online media (regardless of the specifics) is growing at a furious pace. In the first three weeks of April 2020, 52% of news materials, 19% of sports texts, 22% of materials about art and entertainment (Anwar et al., 2020). 22% of business articles were published with headlines containing the keywords “coronavirus,” “COVID-19”, “pandemic,” “epidemic,” and others (Anwar et al., 2020). The pandemic has revealed the urgent need for fact-checking, a more detailed study of topics, and information occasions while changing working conditions and not canceling the need to improve efficiency.
Research Objectives and Methods
Primarily, this research aims to address the role of the most reliable UAE media sources, their response to the pandemic, and identity what impact they had on a community. Moreover, it is vital to identify and critically analyze the types of media coverage throughout the disaster using Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) five stages of risk awareness. It also is necessary to provide evidence-based recommendations for improving media and other relevant stakeholder emergency communication plans in the event of similar disasters in the future. A literature review is a primary method within the framework of this research. The reviewed materials will be analyzed, and the final results will be compared.
National Media Response Plan
Arab media have played a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought drastic changes in the region, by launching health awareness initiatives and informing people about preventive measures. UAE-based media channels attempted to focus on positive information since the beginning of the pandemic. Most credible sources tried to educate people about prevention measures (Khairy & El-Shaarawi, 2020). In general, news sources acted as a tool for communication and spread of important events and updates about the pandemic, including the information regarding the government policies aimed at fighting the killing virus.
In the Arab media space, the news coverage was primarily copied from the international media outlets, paying attention to the cases from Italy, China, and Korea. By the end of February, there were particularly no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region. Thus, it was a pre-crisis stage when the main Arab media decided to distance itself from the surging dangers of fake news. Hence, it initially reported the information regarding the pandemic as a part of international news. However, this fact was contrary to the rumors related to the virus spread that was all over the Internet, especially on big social platforms such as WhatsApp.
Since the start of the pandemic, Saudi Arabia has been highly appraised by numerous organizations for rapid response to a crisis. Due to the country’s monarchial government and the proper control over all spheres, the government gave coordinated guidelines for combatting the virus (Khairy & El-Shaarawi, 2020). In addition, the authorities suggested that citizens only use official media sources. Hence, the country’s media took it, as a rule, to abide by and tried to avoid fake news. This strategy helped UAE mitigate the potential threats of data leakage.
Sources of Information
In Lebanon, political uprisings caused the limitation of media policy, while the authorities have mentioned concern regarding the jeopardizing of security systems in the country. Upon the increase in the number of cases, the credible news sources commenced posting information about the vulnerable groups of population. Regional and international media have started to focus on the possibility of coronavirus spread in such places as Syria, Palestine, and the other potentially unsecured refugee camps around the area (Sebugwaawo, 2021). Therefore, it was not clear if social media negatively impacted the news organizations’ response in that area. The media reaction was concerning because there was no coordinated policy in those countries. The emergence of several coronavirus cases made journalists and authorities feel nervous about the potential threats
Types of Content, Misinformation, and Challenges
The informational space in the Arab region was saturated with information both genuine and fake and in other places. about the coronavirus. The main types of fake news were dedicated to the number of cases, treatment, symptoms, and the hospitals’ capacity in the region. Clickbait news were all around the Arab non-official media but they were highly critiqued and disregarded by the official once. Nonetheless, the adequate and dynamic utilization of social platforms in the region and maintaining the socio-cultural and political climate created a unique environment for citizens of the area. It allowed the media sources to disseminate news among all socio-economic strata but at the same time enabled them to spread viral data consisting of dangerous misinformation which threatened people’s well-being and the stability of the UAE (Sebugwaawo, 2021). Nevertheless, media and authorities’ cooperation and effective governing strategies and actions could overweigh potentially hazardous messages. In general, the Arab media’s response was rational due to the seeming unpreparedness for the disaster. Perhaps, such a reaction is justified by the fact that the Arabic countries were hit by coronavirus later than the rest of the world.
Recommendations
To prevent the spread of deliberately false news, the UN has launched a new initiative to combat misinformation about COVID-19. The industry is based on a scientific approach to the problem and a call to unite and search for solutions to combat disinformation. In particular, UNESCO promotes open educational resources (OER), fact-checking networks, as well as media literacy and information literacy resources to counter the spread of misinformation (Abbas et al., 2021). It resorts to digital technologies such as artificial intelligence in response to the crisis, as well as to emphasize the critical role of documentary heritage in efforts to combat pandemics in the past.
It is vital to develop a risk communication plan applicable to media. The first step is to gain trust and organize the interaction with affected population groups. In the case of COVID-19, it is better to cooperate with the governmental and social institutes that can provide trustworthy information (Sebugwaawo, 2021). Second, it is necessary to adapt information and communication systems to users’ needs and involve local stakeholders in ensuring the smooth exchange of information between sectors (McMakin & Lundgren, 2018). Third, the media should respond quickly but check the news thoroughly (McMakin & Lundgren, 2018). These steps will help to mitigate the risks of fake information distribution.
Conclusion
Arab media reacted to the coronavirus pandemic in an adequate manner: journalists did not spread much fake news preventing people from misinformation. In addition, the news sources attempted to filter the information even though there were data leakages. Social networks and traditional media, along with other forms of communication, should become part of a comprehensive strategy for obtaining consistent, verified and accurate information. The suggested risk communication plan is supposed to help media verify information so that not to deceive the audience and mitigate other disaster-related risks.
References
Abbas, J., Wang, D., Su, Z., & Ziapour, A. (2021) The role of social media in the advent of COVID-19 pandemic: Crisis management, mental health challenges and implications. Risk Management of Healthcare Policy, 14, 1917-1932.
Anwar, A., Malik, M., Raees, V., & Anwar, A. (2020). Role of mass media and public health communications in the COVID-19 pandemic.Cureus, 12(9), e10453.
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on journalists and the media sector in the Arab world and the middle east. (2020). Arab Trade Union Confederation.
Khairy, L., & El-Shaarawi, S. (2020). The viral quotient: How Arab media responded to COVID-19. The Cairo Review of Global Affairs.
McMakin, A. H., Lundgren, R. E. (2018). Risk Communication: A handbook for communicating environmental, safety, and health risks. Wiley.
Sebugwaawo, I. (2021). Covid-19: Arab media played major role in virus fight, says UAE researcher. Khaalej Times.