Pandemic and pandemonium: an analysis on the displacements of false information in Covid-19 times

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2021.i52.04

Keywords:

disinformation, disinfodemic, Covid-19, journalistic ethics

Abstract

This article discuss the communicational fragility in the era of disinformation in a humanitarian crisis, in this case, the global pandemic of Covid-19. The study was developed through news content analysis that reports the circulation of untrue or manipulated information about the coronavirus and that caused negative developments in the period from March to December 2020. For that, communicational concepts, deontological principles, contexts and social reflections are approached to better understand the problem. The analysis carried out in this study focused on three specific episodes: (1) the death of more than 700 people in Iran from drinking adulterated alcohol due to the rumor that the substance was the cure for the Covid-19; (2) the increase in cases of ingestion and intoxication by cleaning products in the USA after President Donald Trump suggested that the possible substances be a possible treatment for coronavirus; (3) and the omission of data on SARS-CoV-2 by China at the beginning of the pandemic. Both episodes served to illustrate the dangers of disinformation, the types of disinformation that exist and the long-term damage that false information can cause. With this, the study reinforces the importance of the verified information, as well as the relevance of journalism in the current times and, thus, it intends to contribute to its re-signification.

Keywords: Disinfodemic. Covid-19. Journalistic Ethics. Media Education

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Bianca Cordeiro Manfrin, Universidade de Cruz Alta

Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Cruz Alta / UNICRUZ (2021), with a stint at the University of Coimbra - Portugal, where he attended a semester of undergraduate academic mobility (2019). He received a scholarship from the Scientific Initiation Program (PIBIC- UNICRUZ) linked to the research line Language, Communication and Society. He has experience in the area of Communication, with an emphasis on Journalism, working mainly on the following topics: journalistic ethics, disinformation, gender and discourse analysis. Researcher at the Study, Research and Extension Group in Languages and Communication (GEPELC).

Veronice Mastella, Universidade de Cruz Alta

PhD in Letters (Linguistic Studies) from the Federal University of Santa Maria / UFSM (2015) with a doctoral internship with CAPES scholarship, at the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona (ES); Master in Social Communication by the Methodist University of São Paulo / UMESP (2000); Specialist in Teaching in Higher Education from the University of Cruz Alta / UNICRUZ (1999) and Bachelor in Social Communication - Qualification in Journalism from the Federal University of Santa Maria / UFSM (1984). She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Cruz Alta. She has experience in the area of Communication, with an emphasis on Media Culture, acting mainly on the following themes: media, culture and society; language in the social context; popularization of science; humanities; journalism and productive routines. Researcher at the Study, Research and Extension Group in Languages and Communication (GEPELC).

References

Amaral, I. y Santos, J. S. (2019). Algoritmos e Redes Sociais: a propagação de fake-news na era pós-verdade. (2019). En Figueira y Santos (Eds.), As Fake News e a Nova Ordem (Des)Informativa Na Era da Pós-Verdade: Manipulação, Polarização e Filter Bubbles (pp. 63-85). Coimbra University Press.

Bardin, L. (1977). Análise de conteúdo. Presses Universitaires de France.

Becker, B. y Goes, F. (2020). Fake News: uma definição possível entre a reflexão crítica e a experiência jornalística. Âncora, Revista Latino-americana de jornalismo, 7 (1), 1-20.

Berger, Guy. (2019). Jornalismo, Fake News e Desinformação: Manual para Educação e Treinamento em Jornalismo (pp. 7-14). Unesco.

Ferraretto, L. A. y Morgado, F. (2020). Covid-19 e Comunicação: Um Guia Prático para Enfrentar a Crise. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. https://bit.ly/3bM7SRJ

Figueira, J., Santos, S. (2019). As Fake News e a Nova Ordem (Des)Informativa Na Era da Pós-Verdade: Manipulação, Polarização e Filter Bubbles. Coimbra University Press.https://doi: 10.14195/978-989-26-1778-7

Fonseca, J. J. S. (2002). Metodologia da pesquisa científica. Apostila.

Gomes, W. y Dourado, T. (2019). Fake news, um fenômeno de comunicação política entre jornalismo, política e democracia. Revista Estudos em Jornalismo e Mídia, 16, (2), 33-45. https://doi: 0.5007/1984-6924.2019v16n2p33

Hassanian-Moghaddam, H., et al. (2020). Double Trouble: methanol outbreak in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran - a cross-sectional assessment. Crit Care, 24, 402 https://doi: 10.1186/s13054-020-03140-w.

Islam, M. S., et al. (2020). Covid-19 – Related Infodemic and Its Impact on Public Health: A Global Social Media Analysis. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 103 (4), 1621-1629. https://doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0812

Minayo, M. C. S. (2001). Pesquisa social: teoria, método e criatividade. Vozes.

Pena, F. (2005). Teoria do jornalismo. Contexto.

Quintanilla, J., Hardman, J., et. al. (2014). Reporting on Humanitarian Crises: A Manual for Trainers & Journalists and an Introduction for Humanitarian Workers. Organisation: Internews: Center of Innovation and Learning. https://bit.ly/30YvRqZ

Rezende, M. J. (2004). Linguagem Médica. AB.

Santana, G. P. y Simeão, E. (2019). Notícias falsas: origens, meios de disseminação, contextos e enfrentamento. En Seminario Hispano-Brasileño de Investigación en Información, Documentación Y Sociedad, (8). https://bit.ly/3vqI6KB

Wardle, C., y Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information Disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policymaking. Council of Europe report. https://bit.ly/3eE1NbV

Wardle, C. et al. (2018). Information Disorder: the essential glossary. Harvard University. https://bit.ly/3liHqm0

Downloads

Published

2021-04-15

How to Cite

Cordeiro Manfrin, B., & Mastella, V. (2021). Pandemic and pandemonium: an analysis on the displacements of false information in Covid-19 times. Ámbitos. Revista Internacional De Comunicación, (52), 52–70. https://doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2021.i52.04

Issue

No. 52 (2021): Spring Edition

Section

MONOGRAPH

License

Ámbitos. Revista Internacional de Comunicación is an open access journal, which means that all content is freely available at no charge to the user or their institution. Users may read, download, copy, distribute, distribute, print, search or link to the full text of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without seeking prior permission from the publisher or author. This definition of open access is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).

Unless otherwise noted, all content in the electronic edition is distributed under a "Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License". You can consult the informative version and legal text of the licence here. This should be expressly stated in this way where necessary.

In case of acceptance of the manuscript, the authors cede the rights of the work for its publication to Ámbitos. Revista Internacional de Comunicación under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license contract (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). The authors retain copyright and third parties are authorised to copy, distribute and make use of the work, provided they comply with the terms and conditions set out in the licence

  • Cite the authorship and the original source of publication (journal, publisher and URL of the work).
  • Do not use them for commercial purposes.
  • If you remix, transform or create from the material, you must release your contributions under the same license as the original.

More information can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.es

Views
  • Abstract 472
  • pdf (Español (España)) 228