Coping with COVID-19 news fatigue

By: Crispin Maslog

Media fatigue from months of intense COVID-19 coverage affects vital public communication.

Media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing full blast for more than half the year by July, seems to have hit a bump. There are indications that people are getting tired of the daily diet of coronavirus stories.

All over the world, in different languages, media continue to play up the pandemic. Leading newspapers and broadcastmediaas well as social media continue to highlightCOVID-19新闻随着感染和死亡的增长。

紧急的消息：People are sick and dying. Wear masks, wash hands, keep social distance and avoid crowds, or the virus will get you.

Yet, the pandemic keeps surging. The number of infections and deaths keep rising in country after country—from South Africa to South America. At the time of this writing on 29 July 2020, the following countries topped the list of COVID-19 infections:

Is news fatigue settling in?

我可以说，与六个月前从中国到达美国相比，目前在美国和亚洲其他地区的大流行越来越严重。但是人们还在听healthexperts’ advice? Are they reacting to the messages? But why does the pandemic keep coming? Are people tired of hearing the same messages day in and day out? Are they paralysed with fear and too much information? Is news fatigue settling in? We asked a few experts for their opinion.

我接近的第一个人回来了，反驳我把我吹走了：“对不起，我有某种信息疲劳。不再参加任何此类练习。祝您调查好运。”他的回答似乎有些刺激和绝望的暗示。受访者，亚洲社会学家和通讯名誉教授，更喜欢保持匿名。

其他人呢？他们是否认为人们现在正在失去兴趣并厌倦阅读和听流行新闻？一些专家的随机答复：

1. No. In the US people are not tired of hearing the same message. It is that they are confused. John Lent, retired American mass communications professor.
2. Yes. Tired but the information is very important to self and family. So, whether you like it or not, you have to listen to it. Syed Arabi Bin Syed, Malaysian communications professor.
3.不。人们意识到需要定期更新。但是，他们变得更加焦虑。拉蒙·图兹（Ramon Tuazon），亚洲UNESCOconsultant.
4. Yes. I have stopped listening. Lockdowns make prisoners of us all. Gino Ables, retired Filipino development communication professor.

我的感觉是，我们还没有在那里，而是接近Covid-19的新闻疲劳，因为大流行不断恶化。新闻疲劳并不新鲜。坏消息使人们感到沮丧和无能为力 - 观众觉得自己不会影响事件，因此他们拒绝了事件。这个概念在媒体之前和机构中都进行了讨论。Nieman Foundation，，，，Reuters Institute for the Study of JournalismandWHO自3月份Covid-19新闻现象爆发以来。

“News fatigue is not new. Bad news leaves people feeling depressed and powerless — viewers feel they cannot influence events and so they reject it.”

Crispin Maslog

And if news fatigue increases, what does this interest drop off mean for communication strategies to control the virus? It means a need to reshape our strategies to fight the fatigue.

The pandemic is worsening because there is no consistent政策being followed to fight it. There are conflicting voices of advice — one coming from scientists and the other coming from politicians, like Donald Trump in the US and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro. These top politicians have undercut the credibility of their scientists. So, people get confused.

The other reason for this communication hiccup in regard to the pandemic in the US is the independent-mindedness of Americans who value their individual freedoms to a fault. They refuse to listen to advice telling them to wear masks, avoid crowds, keep social distance, wash their hands. None of your business, they say.

Listen to scientists

So, how do you break down public resistance to experts’ advice to control a pandemic? The answer: listen to the scientists and speak with one voice. Use coercion as a last resort if needed. Some countries and US states are now mandating the wearing of masks.

Democratic Western countries led by the US might learn a painful lesson or two about speaking with one voice from authoritarian China where their anti-COVID-19 campaign is succeeding.Peixin Cao，，，，professor and vice-dean, School of Journalism,沟通University of China，，，，Beijing tellsscidev.net：

“这governmenttook a brand-new campaign measure (copied from the West) that had never been implemented before (in China), namely (surprise, surprise!) regular press conferences,” according to Peixin. “The most effective strategy is giving information through state media. My observation is that (in China) people just follow the guidance of the government, willingly or unwillingly.”

朱·林（Wuhan）的新闻记者朱·林（Zhu Lingscidev.net．“主要的原因可能是中国共产党的共产主义(Party of China) communication strategy on COVID-19 that all media shall follow the central ideology.”

应对新闻疲劳

在隔离期间应对无聊是您居住在狭窄房间的社会贫民窟部门中的一个问题。但是对于中产阶级来说，这应该没问题：人们可以在公园里悠闲地散步之间阅读或观看电视。我让自己忙于大部分在线工作：写我的科学专栏和书籍。

In the meantime,Poynter Reportadvises media not to stop covering COVID-19 even if people are starting to get tired of it. Coronavirus news fatigue may be setting in, but it’s more important than ever for journalists to publish this news until the pandemic is kicked. No matter how painful we must face it until the end.

Meanwhile, WHO has advice for those affected by the flood of negative COVID-19 news. “Minimise watching, reading or listening to news about COVID-19 that causes distress; seek information only from trusted sources. Get the facts; not rumours and misinformation. Facts can help minimise fears.”

当然，说起来容易做起来难，但是我们必须这样做。

Crispin C. Maslog, former journalist with Agence France-Presse, is an environmental activist and former science journalism professor, Silliman University and University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines. He is a founding member and now Chair of the Board, Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Manila.

这件作品由Scidev.net的亚太桌子制作。