DIGITALCREDIBILITY AND DISINFORMATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
1 ISMAI, Maia University Institute (PORTUGAL)
2 UNICES Research Centre - ISMAI; N2i Research Centre - IPMaia, LIACC - Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science Laboratory, University of Porto (PORTUGAL)
3 CECS – Communication and Society Research Centre – University of Minho (PORTUGAL)
2 UNICES Research Centre - ISMAI; N2i Research Centre - IPMaia, LIACC - Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science Laboratory, University of Porto (PORTUGAL)
3 CECS – Communication and Society Research Centre – University of Minho (PORTUGAL)
About this paper:
Appears in: ICERI2021 Proceedings
Publication year: 2021
Pages: 4211-4218
ISBN: 978-84-09-34549-6
ISSN: 2340-1095
doi: 10.21125/iceri.2021.0980
Publication year: 2021
Pages: 4211-4218
ISBN: 978-84-09-34549-6
ISSN: 2340-1095
doi: 10.21125/iceri.2021.0980
Conference name: 14th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation
Dates: 8-9 November, 2021
Location: Online Conference
Dates: 8-9 November, 2021
Location: Online Conference
Abstract:
During the coronavirus pandemic, news production suffered several modifications, due to the urgency to reach the public quickly and in real time, as stated by Cunha, 2020, cited in Bomfim & Benicio Soares, 2021. In this rapidly changing process, the Covid-19 pandemic also unleashed an infodemic period, enhanced by the access to the Internet and the development of new digital technologies, which allows information to spread much faster than a virus, as Silva & Presser, 2021, mentioned.The main objective of this study, performed by students of the Research Methods and Techniques course integrated in the Communication Sciences degree at Maia University Institute, is to analyse the way Portuguese online newspapers (Correio da Manhã and Jornal de Notícias) treated disinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic, and how it affected the way young people perceive the news.
This study uses a mix-method model, starting from questionnaires about news consumption to young people between 18 and 30 years old (N=1370) and later with a qualitative news analysis to deepen the findings obtained previously.
Results from the questionnaire reveal that respondents were careful when it comes to trust in online news, compared to traditional media, during the coverage of the pandemic. Furthermore, we collected news about disinformation in two Portuguese newspapers (Correio da Manhã and Jornal de Notícias), between March and November of 2020 (n=16), so that we could corroborate and validate the results of our investigation.
The news analysis about disinformation contradicted our expected results, since they had zero shares and journalists interfered less in the process of newsmaking: information’s route goes straight from the source to being published in the newspaper.