Impact of Mass Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 is a deadly contagious infection, first discovered in China during the year 2019. It slowly started spreading globally, and several infections started rising worldwide because the proper treatment and medication/vaccine were unknown during the beginning. In order to prevent the disease from spreading, every country decided to impose a complete lockdown. India imposed a complete lockdown during the last week of March 2020. Only essential services like medicine shops and groceries were open with certain restrictions. During the lockdown, learning for students and work, everything became online. People started to spend more time online on the Internet during the lockdown. As going out was not the right choice during the pandemic, people were only limited to do things inside their houses, and the Internet is the most chosen availability by everyone. During the lockdown, mass media has played an essential role in our lives. Mass media are social platforms, which spreads awareness and information efficiently to us, including TV, Radio, Newspaper and the Internet. The government shut down everything during the lockdown for which newspapers did not print; radio and television did not telecast any shows or news. Internet was the only available source then. The usage of social media increased even more during the lockdown. Updates of the pandemic included: daily rate of infections, recoveries, treatment, Tele- consultation with doctors, booking doctor appointments, availability of hospital and other essential services, news about the pandemic and its effect worldwide- everything was available online. This information made our lives simpler to reach out for information, but on the other hand, it also affected every individual’s mental health. Many people were getting mentally upset on hearing the updates. They felt stressed and anxious about the lockdown and pandemic situation. People lost jobs, closed ones due to coronavirus; many people were unable to support their families. People around the entire world faced problems, which were being shared on mass media. People sitting at home and watching this news were concerned over what if the same happened to them. Also, many people became depressed sitting at home for such a long time. A study called "Role of mass media and it's impact on general public during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in North India: An online assessment" was conducted by a few health experts to evaluate how mass media had impacted people’s mental health during the pandemic. The group of health experts distributed an online assessment amongst people residing in North India, aged between 10-60 and above. The assessment consisted of 18 questions, which asked them their preferences on social media platforms before and during the lockdown, usage of those platforms, and their impact.

The results of the assessment show:

Anxiety

45% of the population conducted in the study aged between 10-19 years old had Anxiety.
19% of the population conducted in the study aged between 20-29 years old had Anxiety.
18% of the population conducted in the study aged between 30-39 years old had Anxiety.
3 % of the population conducted in the study aged between 40-49 years old had Anxiety.
9% of the population conducted in the study aged between 50-59 years old had Anxiety.
38% of the population conducted in the study aged between 60 and above years old had Anxiety.

Stress

86% of the population conducted in the study aged between 10-19 years old.
32% of the population conducted in the study aged between 20-29 years old.
9% of the population conducted in the study aged between 30-39 years old.
3% of the population conducted in the study aged between 40-49 years old.
67% of the population conducted in the study aged between 50-59 years old.
38% of the population conducted in the study aged between 60 years and above.

Fear

09% of the population conducted in the study aged between 10-19 years old.
16% of the population conducted in the study aged between 20-29 years old.
18% of the population conducted in the study aged between 30-39 years old.
3% of the population conducted in the study aged between 40-49 years old.
33% of the population conducted in the study aged between 50-59 years old.
69% of the population conducted in the study aged between 60 years old and above.

Panic

27% of the population conducted in the study aged between 10-19 years old.
38% of the population conducted in the study aged between 20-29 years old.
18% of the population conducted in the study aged between 30-39 years old.
0% of the population conducted in the study aged between 40-49 years old.
78% of the population conducted in the study aged between 50-59 years old.
76% of the population conducted in the study aged between 60 years old and above.

The results indicate how mass media impacted the different age groups during the pandemic. Mass media is a powerful and reliable source for everyone to be updated with the latest information regarding what is happening worldwide. At the same time, it can also spread panic and fear amongst the public. All sorts of sources need to verify their information before publishing it on publicly accessible platforms.