Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Expert voices in the news reporting of the coronavirus pandemic: A study of UK television news bulletins and their audiences

Morani, Marina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7599-843X, Cushion, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7164-8283, Kyriakidou, Maria ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4053-5961 and Soo, Nikki ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8717-4323 2022. Expert voices in the news reporting of the coronavirus pandemic: A study of UK television news bulletins and their audiences. Journalism 23 (12) , pp. 2513-2532. 10.1177/14648849221127629

[thumbnail of 14648849221127629.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (661kB) | Preview

Abstract

The study examines the role of experts in UK television news at the start of the coronavirus pandemic by analysing both how they were used in coverage and perceived by news audiences. Our systematic content analysis of sources (N = 2300) used in the UK’s flagship evening news bulletins found a reliance on political sources, principally from the government’s perspective. We also discovered health and scientific experts received limited coverage and were only occasionally used to scrutinise public health policy. Yet, our six-week online diary study with 175 participants identified a strong preference for expert views about how the pandemic was being handled. It showed audiences favoured a range of expert sources in routine reporting – balancing government appointed and independent experts – to provide evidence-based scrutiny of the executive’s decision-making. Overall, our findings contribute to a greater understanding of audience expectations, opinions, and experiences with broadcast news during a major public health crisis.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Journalism, Media and Culture
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISSN: 1464-8849
Funders: AHRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 26 September 2022
Date of Acceptance: 2 September 2022
Last Modified: 03 May 2023 17:06
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/152861

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics