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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 7

Publication Date: July 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/assrj.107.15109

Bekhit, E., & Al-Ali, F. (2023). The Professional Performance of Media and Social Network During the Crisis: Audience’s Perception

of Covid-19 Coverage. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(7). 272-295.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

The Professional Performance of Media and Social Network

During the Crisis: Audience’s Perception of Covid-19 Coverage

Elsayed Bekhit

Zayed University

Fayziah Al-Ali

Sharjah University

ABSTRACT

The study aimed to identify and analyze the public attitudes and perceptions of the

treatment of the coronavirus crisis by media and communication organizations in

the UAE. To what extent have they succeeded in introducing the CORONA virus and

its symptoms, methods of prevention and precautionary measures, their

perceptions of the most important means of communication that succeeded in

raising their awareness of the crisis and affected their handling of the crisis, and

their assessment of the nature of the information obtained from these mass media

and social media in terms of its completeness, accuracy, etc. The study revealed a

convergence in the roles that social media and the media have been interested in

dealing with the virus and their relevance to the roles assigned to them, and both

agreed to prioritize the roles related to the identification of THE CORONA virus, to

raise awareness of the importance of taking precautionary measures with regard to

HIV and to inform members of society about the symptoms of the virus. These

results indicated that both the media and social media play an important role in

spreading information related to the virus than in the roles of awareness and

guidance. It also reveals that there is a lack of effort exerted by both media in the

use of specialists to fulfil their roles in enhancing the awareness and guidance of the

virus. The study also found that the public relied more on social media than the

conventional media to obtain information about the coronavirus, which is risky

because of the inaccuracy and reliability of the information published through

social media. The public's assessment of the professional performance of the

conventional media was also more positive than their assessment of the

professional performance of social media.

Keywords: Crisis media, media coverage of CORONA, social media and CORONA virus,

professional media performance

INTRODUCTION

Since early 2020, the world has been witnessing an unprecedented crisis, as a result of the

consequences of the spread of the Corona virus, at a time when visions are confused about the

best ways to deal with this pandemic, whether at the health, economic, political, psychological

or media levels. While some countries, institutions and individuals have succeeded to some

extent in dealing with this crisis, others have suffered from many crises. At a time when several

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Bekhit, E., & Al-Ali, F. (2023). The Professional Performance of Media and Social Network During the Crisis: Audience’s Perception of Covid-19

Coverage. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(7). 272-295.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.107.15109

institutions played important roles in addressing this pandemic, others did not perform the

roles assigned to them.

Moreover, visions varied in terms of the roles played by social media and other sources,

whether personal, specialized or official, in dealing with the Corona virus crisis. Whereas some

considered that social media spread a lot of rumors and misinformation, and that their

professional performance neither transferred true information, nor provided guidance or

spread awareness, others considered that the traditional media succeeded in conveying a more

accurate picture of the virus to the public (Ipsos, 2020, Middle East, June, 2020, Nic Newman.

2020. Reuters Report 2020). But in general, the results related to this matter are still

inconclusive, in addition to the fact that the emergence of other sources that played important

roles in the process of communicating with the public to introduce and prevent the virus,

including specialized and governmental agencies and personal means of communication, calls

for conducting many studies to identify the public’s perceptions of the virus regarding the

means they relied on in dealing with the coronavirus crisis and their evaluation of their

professional performance, which helps to form clearer visions of how to deal with such crises

and disasters, and good planning for communicating with the public.

The importance of the media in modern societies is that it is a major source of information,

especially after the spread of satellite channels and the increasing reliance on the Internet and

social media. While some studies have concluded that satellite TV is at the forefront of the

means that the public relies on as sources of information, other studies have shown the

increasing reliance on the Internet; especially on the part of young people, to obtain

information; especially during crises.

With the tremendous progress in communication technology, which made it possible to know

news at the global level at the same time and receive it as quickly as receiving local news, the

public’s dependence on these means has increased as the main source for obtaining

information about the events and issues raised; especially in times of need for information, and

the need of individuals to information that helps them reveal what is going on, evaluate

situations, and build new directions (Suzan Al-Qalini, 1998). This confirms the need to know

the quality of the means from which the public derives its information, and the perceptions of

individuals about the nature of the roles played by these means during crises.

During the past months of 2020, the world witnessed many visions about media treatments for

the Coronavirus crisis, including: (1) that while the media is one of the most important pillars

of managing this crisis in many countries of the world, it was part of the crisis in other

countries ,as some of these means did not assume national responsibility, and fell into the trap

of rumors and intimidation of the crisis, and instead of being a factor of reassurance for society,

they were a cause for fear and panic at times. (2) The coronavirus crisis has doubled the

responsibility of the media, and it has become the most important actor in managing this crisis.

The responsible media contributes to support the governmental and institutional management

of any crisis .

(3) If the crisis, in its definition, refers to a sudden and unexpected development in a case, and

it requires quick action by the concerned authorities to contain the repercussions arising from

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 7, July-2023

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

it, then the role of the media in managing this crisis is mainly to reassure the members of society

and work to remove any negative feelings that may result and address the rumors associated

with it. (4) The outbreak of the crisis was accompanied by an increase in the demand for and

access to social media during the crisis by individuals, due to the lack of natural social

communication and the presence of more free time for users, who are restricted to stay in their

homes (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, July 2020).

(5) The Corona crisis constituted a test for the media in their ability to gain and maintain the

public’s trust, and their ability to convey accurate health information in times of crisis, without

underestimation or intimidation (Amal Al-Ghazawi, 2020) (Nic Newman. 2020. Reuters report,

2020). This study seeks to identify the nature of the roles played by the means of

communication as seen by the public.

IMPORTANCE OF STUDY

• Determining the type of communication means that the public depends on in times of

crisis, and those on which it depends in acquiring information related to the

Coronavirus.

• Getting to know the public’s evaluation of the professional performance of the

communication methods that were relied upon to obtain information related to the

Coronavirus.

• Assisting government and community agencies in evaluating the media and

communication experience in dealing with the coronavirus crisis and identifying

strengths and weaknesses in the experience.

• Determining the most prominent means that can be employed in the field of crisis media

and how to avoid mistakes that can occur during crises.

• Developing indicators to evaluate communication and media performance in the field of

dealing with crises.

The study aims to identify and analyze the nature of the public’s attitudes and perceptions

about the media and communication institutions in the UAE dealing with the Coronavirus crisis

and to what extent did they succeed in defining the Coronavirus, its symptoms, methods of

prevention, precautionary measures, and response to the authorities concerned with dealing

with the crisis, and their perceptions of the most important communication means that

succeeded in raising their awareness of the crisis and affected how they deal with it, and their

evaluation of the nature of the information obtained from these means and their accuracy,

comprehensiveness, completeness, and being free of contradictions, ambiguities, errors, etc.

PREVIOUS STUDIES

There is a wide variety of literature and previous studies that dealt with some aspects of the

study, including:

(1) Studies concerned with evaluating media performance in dealing with crises and disasters,

such as the study (Laila Hussein El-Sayed, 1998), which aimed to identify the role of means of

communication in providing the Egyptian University students with information about current

events, and concluded that television ranks first among the sources Information that the

respondents depend on to know current events.