“Impact of Media on public related to Covid-19 pandemic an Online Survey”

Abstract

Background: Media played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing information, creating awareness, and influencing public behavior. At the same time, excessive exposure to media reports and misinformation had the potential to cause fear, anxiety, and psychological distress among the public.

Objectives: To assess the impact of Media on public related to Covid-19 pandemic by using structured rating scale and to determine the association between public opinion and their selected socio-demographic variables.

Materials and methods: A descriptive survey was conducted to assess the impact of media during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Using a non probability snowball sampling technique 300 participants were included. Data were collected using a structured Google form questionnaire with a rating scale. The questionnaire consists of socio-demographic variables and items related to the positive and negative impacts of media during COVID-19.

Results: The results of the study revealed that majority of participants reported positive impact of media. About 91.6% stated that media increased awareness regarding COVID-19 preventive measures, 86.6% received timely updates, 84% encouraged hand hygiene, mask usage and social distance, 77.3 % gained better knowledge about vaccination and 76.6 % felt that media helped them stay socially connected during lockdown periods and also identified several negative impact of media. Approximately 67% experienced fear and anxiety, 61% experienced panic through continuous updates, 59.3% leads to stress due to excessive exposure to news, 58.3% felt spread misinformation or fake news and 56.3% are negatively affected their mental well-being and the overall impact of media during Covid-19 shows that majority 64% of participants had positive impact and 36% of them had  negative impact.

Conclusion: Hence the study concluded that media played a significant role during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing timely information, increasing public awareness, and promoting preventive health practices.