Public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran.
BMC Public Health
; 21(1): 2187, 2021 11 29.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34844583
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
In the COVID-19 pandemic, rumors travel far faster than the outbreak itself. The current study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the attitudes of individuals towards the rumors-producing media in Iran.METHODS:
An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in Iran in March 2020 on the source of information and rumors, along with the perception of individuals regarding the reasons for rumors propagation during the COVID-19 pandemic.RESULTS:
Results showed that the majority of the participants (59.3%) believed that social media were the main source of rumors. The lack of a reliable and formal news resource was also considered the most common cause of rumoring by the participants (63.6%). An evaluation was carried out to identify the main source of misinformation and rumors. Results showed that Retired participants considered foreign media (P < 0.001) as the main resource. The middle-income level participants believed that social media (P < 0.001) were the main source. In this regard, the highly educated participants (P < 0.001), government employees, and middle-income individuals (P = 0.008) believed that national media produced rumors.CONCLUSION:
Although findings were achieved during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the authorities immediately introduced the national media as a reliable news resource, which allowed both media and its journalists to reduce the gap between themselves and the public sphere. It was suggested that social networks and foreign media be more accountable in pandemics.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Mídias Sociais
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Public Health
Assunto da revista:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Irã