Table 1.
Characteristics and content of COVID-19 broadcast news segments, January–February, 2020.
| Total |
United States |
International |
P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N = 401 | N = 350 | N = 51 | ||
| VIDEO CHARACTERISTICS | ||||
| Length (minutes) | 0.08 | |||
| Mean [SD] | 3.4 [3.5] | 3.3 [3.5] | 4.3 [4.3] | |
| Range | 0.1–25.2 | 0.1–25.2 | 0.5–24.5 | |
| Presentation | 0.018 | |||
| Animated | 40 (10.0) | 35 (10.0) | 5 (9.8) | |
| Live presenter | 354 (88.3) | 312 (89.1) | 42 (82.4) | |
| Captioned only/English subtitles | 7 (1.7) | 3 (0.9) | 4 (7.8) | |
| CONTENT | ||||
| Mentions anxiety | 0.30 | |||
| Yes | 124 (30.9) | 105 (30.0) | 19 (37.3) | |
| No | 277 (69.1) | 245 (70.0) | 32 (62.7) | |
| Suggests anxiety | 0.52 | |||
| Yes | 150 (37.4) | 133 (38.0) | 17 (33.3) | |
| No | 251 (62.6) | 217 (62.0) | 34 (66.7) | |
| Mentions death and death rates | 0.04 | |||
| Yes | 175 (43.6) | 146 (41.7) | 29 (56.9) | |
| No | 226 (56.4) | 204 (58.3) | 22 (43.1) | |
| Hand hygiene | 0.80 | |||
| Yes | 68 (17.0) | 60 (17.1) | 8 (15.7) | |
| No | 333 (83.0) | 290 (82.9) | 43 (84.3) | |
| Avoid close contact with those who are sick | 0.87 | |||
| Yes | 90 (22.4) | 79 (22.6) | 11 (21.6) | |
| No | 311 (77.6) | 271 (77.4) | 40 (78.4) | |
| Stay home when ill | 0.69 | |||
| Yes | 79 (19.7) | 70 (20.0) | 9 (17.6) | |
| No | 322 (80.3) | 280 (80.0) | 42 (82.4) | |
| Coughing into/blowing nose with a tissue then throwing it away | 0.19 | |||
| Yes | 12 (3.0) | 9 (2.6) | 3 (5.9) | |
| No | 389 (97.0) | 341 (97.4) | 48 (94.1) | |
| Facemask for protection when caring for the sick | 0.06 | |||
| Yes | 25 (6.2) | 25 (7.1) | 0 (0.0) | |
| No | 376 (93.8) | 325 (92.9) | 51 (100.0) | |
| Facemask for protecting others if you are sick | 0.11 | |||
| Yes | 41 (10.2) | 39 (11.1) | 2 (3.9) | |
| No | 360 (89.8) | 311 (88.9) | 49 (96.1) | |
| Facemask but not according to CDC guidelines | 0.45 | |||
| Yes | 39 (9.7) | 36 (10.3) | 3 (5.9) | |
| No | 361 (90.0) | 313 (89.7) | 48 (94.1) | |
| Clean and disinfect highly touched objects and surfaces | 0.18 | |||
| Yes | 35 (8.8) | 28 (8.0) | 7 (13.7) | |
| No | 366 (91.3) | 322 (92.0) | 44 (86.3) | |