Medijsko obrazovanje i informisanje o pandemiji korona virusa
Authors:   University in Niš, Faculty of Philosophy, Đukić Živadinović Tatjana D. , Stamenković Ivana S. 
Published: February 2022

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), which began in 2019 and cul- minated globally in 2020, showed all the weaknesses of the modern age, despite the abun- dance of knowledge and technologies available to modern man. Societies are still struggling with economic and health consequences of the pandemic. As in every period of the great social or healthcare crisis, information-communication and media systems play an immeas- urable role. While it appeared at first that the new media, with its near-instantaneous speed, accessibility, and large audience, would have a positive effect on informing the public and suppressing the pandemic, the reality completely contradicted this thesis. The pandemic has started an infodemia on a global level, and thus intensified the need for media literacy. Furthermore, many governments use the coronavirus pandemic, as well as public fear and anxiety, to impose greater control over the flow of information, while public hunger for information grows. This creates a fertile ground for the spread of misinformation and semi- information on social media, which is becoming increasingly contaminated with fake news. The research aims to examine whether media education influences informing and overall communication behavior in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. A survey was used as a method of data collection in the research. The sample consisted of 322 re- spondents, 64.6 percent of whom were female and 35.4 percent male; 36.3 percent of all respondents have some kind of media education, while 63.7 percent do not. Research has shown that online media are the preferred choice for getting informa- tion about the coronavirus pandemic, both for respondents who have some kind of media education and for those who do not. It has been established that media education is not an influencing factor in the frequency of getting information. Furthermore, it was found that as many as 75.77% of respondents feel confused due to the amount of information about the COVID-19 and that exposure to media education cannot reduce confusion due to hyper-production, and consequently hyper-reception of coronavirus information. This suggests that even knowledge of the importance of selecting relevant information cannot reduce oversaturation with those contents that are a priority on the media agenda. The most significant findings of the research are that exposure to media education can have a positive effect to the ability to identify fake news, fake photos, and videos about the coronavirus pandemic; that respondents who have not had any type of media education are significantly less likely to identify offensive content regarding race, nation, or individual beliefs, in the context of a coronavirus pandemic; and that respondents who are not exposed to media education think significantly less about the credibility of coronavirus information. However, when it comes to detecting information about the COVID-19 that violates privacy rights, media education has not been identified as a factor of influence. Media education focuses on the ability of the audience to position media content in an appropriate social context, process fake news, and make important decisions. All of this is critical in combating social, psychological, political, and economic consequences of coronavirus, as well as its health consequences. Therefore, the authors conclude that media education has a positive impact on informing about the coronavirus pandemic and that it is one of the key countermeasures to the growing infodemia.