Covid-19 & the Media - Williams College

Covid-19 & the Media

Asian doctor administering a COVID test. Used for Minnesota Public Radio News homepage. story page, Twitter, Facebook post, stories, Instagram post and stories

Cover of How to Watch TV News by Neil Postman and Steve Powers

Fox News on Trump Tweet

AZ Central on Trump Tweet

Different Media Takes on Same Information

How does the public decide what is fact? Does anyone's opinion get swayed, or do they already

think that they have all the facts? Overall question for discussion: Do news sources

change anyone's minds or are people only reading what validates their already formed opinion?

Questions to consider:

1. What information is this figure/article/data giving us? What information is this source leaving out? Why?

2. What story are they trying to tell? 3. In evaluating media, how can we work to separate intent

versus impact of a source? 4. What tools can we use to evaluate media sources?

Motives for Media

1. Economic a. Sensationalist media makes money b. Ad Space

2. Political a. Upcoming election b. Partisanship

Are news sources knowingly misleading audiences or do they believe they are reporting objectively?

Evaluation Tools:

Attention to tone (what words are being used, and why?; what is being left out?)

What information is being provided? How is it being presented?

What visuals are used to accompany the story? Who has access to different types/forms of

information? What facts would you like to see?

 The amount of media coverage a news source gives to Covid-19 could change viewers' perception of the severity of the virus

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