It’s fairly well established that conservatives tend to consume more misinformation than liberals, with particularly damaging consequences in the current pandemic, as their views on everything from the necessity of lockdown to vaccines is often unhelpful.  New research from the University of Pennsylvania explores whether there are specific media that lend themselves to the spreading of misinformation.

The researchers analyzed data from the Annenberg Science Knowledge survey, which was conducted in early March.  The data revealed significant differences in our views on the coronavirus, and these correlated with certain media consumption habits.

The analysis found that consumption of conservative media, including Fox News, was linked to higher levels of misinformation, and belief in conspiracies, concerning the pandemic.  These including the belief that it was deliberately released by the Chinese government, and that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had over-egged the danger posed by the virus to harm Trump’s presidency.

Misinformed

What’s more, the use of social media and web aggregators was strongly linked with higher levels of misinformation.  For instance, people who used the likes of Facebook and Twitter were more likely to believe that vitamin C would prevent infection.  Similarly, such people were also less likely to support various mitigation strategies, such as social distancing and hand washing.

By contrast, consumers of mainstream media consumers tended to be more aware of the dangers presented by the virus, especially compared to seasonal flu.  They were generally able to hold more accurate beliefs about the virus in all ways, including the benefits of washing one’s hands and maintaining social distancing.

“Because both information and misinformation can affect behavior, we all ought be doing our part not only to increase essential knowledge about SARS-CoV-2, but also to interdict the spread of deceptions about its origins, prevention, and effects,” the researchers say. “Additionally, all forms of media should ask, Are our audiences better prepared to deal with this coronavirus as a result of our work or is their trust in us endangering them and their communities?”

Improving public understanding

The researchers conclude with a number of recommendations for how the situation can be improved:

1. The need for more proactive communication about preventative measures from public health officials, even before crises hit.
2. Be more aggressive in hunting down misinformation and correcting it.  Particular focus should be on misinformation held by at least 10% of the population.
3. Adopt a baseline for monitoring social media interventions that allow social networks to assess the effectiveness of interventions.
4. Greater interaction between public health officials and conservative media, so that announcements, hyperlinks to CDC pages, and interviews with respected officials are regularly featured.
5. Removal of paywalls that prevent access to content on mainstream media content, with the researchers urging publications to follow the lead of the likes of the New York Times and Washington Post, who are making all of their virus-related content free to access.