Journalism in COVID-19 pandemic: Is ‘the truth’ true?
As the COVID-19 sweeps through the globe, affecting not only public health but also politics, economy, and social cognition, media outlets around the world are depicting the pandemic in various ways. Journalism in China and the US, as experts notice, are providing information and shaping public perception from different angles during this special period.
The gap between the COVID-19 reports from Chinese and western media has ignited opposite ideologies across the ocean, Zhijun GUO, Director of the international news department at China Review News Agency and Professional associate of Columbia Weatherhead East Asian Institute (Fall 2015 to Summer 2016), said at a webinar on May 11.
According to Guo, politicization in media reports can result in populism, producing misinformation and inciting irrational emotions among the public. “It is worrisome that politics override profession during this crisis,” warned the journalist, “false information under the pandemic has spread in a fearful speed.”
It is important to identify the “dimensionality” of truth and seek for it, said Wang GAO, Director of the news center at the website of People's Daily overseas edition, pointing out that different standpoints can affect ways to construct stories. “Both images are from the frontline,” giving an example from a Chinese and a western report about Wuhan, Gao left the question to the audience, “which is ‘true’ and which is ‘false’?”
He also stressed the importance of big data in journalism. “Technology and big data will help confirm and correct the ‘truth from frontline’ in the digital age.”
Bo TANG, TV reporter for China Global Television Network (CGTN) who reported from the frontline, shared what he saw and how he presented the news based on his 90-day experience in Wuhan.
Between Chinese and western media
Talking about the differences between Chinese and western media, Gao elaborated that western reports need to bring in their own factors, to interview an American in Wuhan to see how people live here, for example. While Chinese reports focus on the facts about the virus and help Chinese audience overcome the crisis.
“The targeted audience and the message to convey are the main differences between media from China and the West,” stressed Gao.
Faced with conflicts between Chinese and western media, Tang said the most effective approach to voice oneself is to show the truth. “When western media blame Chinese officials for bureaucratism, we unravel the process of constructing Huoshenshan Hospital, Leishenshan Hospital, and Fangcang shelter hospitals.”
Webinars on COVID-19
The webinar serves as one of Coronavirus thematic series program of Columbia Global Centers | Beijing. Chang WEI, TV correspondent for Phoenix Television in Washington, D.C., served as moderator at the virtual panel.
Since the coronavirus outbreak, Columbia Global Centers | Beijing has been working closely with experts and scholars from Columbia University, Peking University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other institutions and media to help audience understand the virus and the mental health conditions of frontline medical staff and people affected by the virus outbreak, as well as to provide solutions and suggestions for improvement.