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MORE NEW COVID-19 research: Our news diary study found people have been switching off from coronavirus coverage – but the Dominic Cummings story has cut through: https://theconversation.com/people-have-been-switching-off-from-coronavirus-news-but-the-dominic-cummings-story-cut-through-139568 Thread 1/
The turmoil about whether Boris Johnson's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, broke the UK's lockdown rules has fuelled public anger about the government. This is despite many people experiencing news fatigue and avoiding news. 2/
Our ongoing study of the public's opinions about media coverage of COVID-19 found many people wanted journalists to hold Cummings to account with some suggesting his actions may have influenced other people to break the UK's lockdown rules. 3/
According to polls taken at start of UK’s lockdown in March, most people closely followed the news for the latest information and analysis about COVID-19, while a clear majority were broadly supportive of the UK government’s handling of the pandemic 4/ https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0031/193747/covid-19-news-consumption-week-one-findings.pdf
But by the end of May our study showed close to half of participants did not follow news closely or at all. Our research revealed many of our participants have become more critical of the government’s decisions and wanted media coverage to reflect their more critical stance. 5/
The Cummings affair appears to have exacerbated anger towards the government -- something that even some Conservative loyalists are acknowledging 6/ https://twitter.com/montie/status/1265329583215316992?s=20
We asked our study participants between May 25 and 27 to select 3 stories over the past few days they would include in a TV news bulletin. Our respondents overwhelmingly named Cummings in responses, expressing anger and dismay that his actions have gone unpunished. 7/
Participants chose the Cummings’ story for a number of reasons, but principally because they wanted to make sure that he does not escape scrutiny. As one respondent put it: “It is necessary to keep the government and politicians accountable”. 8/
Some participants suggested story had influenced people’s behaviour in: “The beach was incredibly busy with absolutely no social distancing… revelations about…Cummings and one rule for them and another for everyone else mixed with the hot weather is causing it.” 9/
In mid-April we found that a large majority of people were voracious news consumers. But when we asked how much news they consumed just under a month later, for many people it was no longer a daily activity. 10/
By end of May while many people said they were consuming less news, a majority signalled they had become more critical of the government, and almost half thought the media's coverage should be more critical of the government's handling of the pandemic. 11/
Above all, respondents who wanted more critical coverage called for greater scrutiny of government decisions, including challenging the prime minister about new lockdown measures in England. Many respondents acknowledged that their opinions had changed. 12/
One commented: "At the start of the pandemic, it was right that the media took a pragmatic approach to reporting. Now, after the multiple failing by the UK government, it should be much more critical." 13/
Over the course of our study since mid-April, participants have made references to some of the salient issues facing the UK’s management of the crisis, such as testing and tracing COVID-19 cases, protecting critical workers and policing social distancing measures. 14/
But if people become less attentive to the news it could more dramatically affect their understanding of relevant health guidance and how far the UK government is held accountable for its handling of the pandemic. 15/
Our research has previously shown that much of the public is already confused about the different lockdown measures across the UK 16/ https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2020/05/22/different-lockdown-rules-in-the-four-nations-are-confusing-the-public
There is also a lack of understanding about the severity of the death toll in the UK compared to other countries 17/ https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-public-confused-and-suspicious-over-governments-death-toll-information-138966
While the Cummings affair attracted a lot of public interest, it could prove a distraction from other issues. The challenge for journalists will be to keep public interested in news while holding govt to account on a wide range of decisions that will impact on their lives. 18/
Research carried out with @sniksw @Maria_Kyriakid and @mari_morani at @CardiffJomec @cardiffuni @Cardiffuninews and is funded by @ahrcpress Thread (finally) ends
