Working Paper: NBER ID: w28110
Authors: Bruce Sacerdote; Ranjan Sehgal; Molly Cook
Abstract: We analyze the tone of COVID-19 related English-language news articles written since January 1, 2020. Ninety one percent of stories by U.S. major media outlets are negative in tone versus fifty four percent for non-U.S. major sources and sixty five percent for scientific journals. The negativity of the U.S. major media is notable even in areas with positive scientific developments including school re-openings and vaccine trials. Media negativity is unresponsive to changing trends in new COVID-19 cases or the political leanings of the audience. U.S. major media readers strongly prefer negative stories about COVID-19, and negative stories in general. Stories of increasing COVID-19 cases outnumber stories of decreasing cases by a factor of 5.5 even during periods when new cases are declining. Among U.S. major media outlets, stories discussing President Donald Trump and hydroxychloroquine are more numerous than all stories combined that cover companies and individual researchers working on COVID-19 vaccines.
Keywords: COVID-19; media coverage; public health; mental health; news tone
JEL Codes: I12; J01
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| negative media coverage (M38) | increased public anxiety (H12) |
| negative media coverage (M38) | increased depressive symptoms (I12) |
| negative tone of US media articles (P17) | negative public sentiment (D62) |
| increased negativity in US media (F52) | rise in public mental health issues (I39) |
| negative media coverage (M38) | adverse public health outcomes (I14) |
| tone of US major media articles (F01) | negative tone of non-US sources (F01) |