Public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran

Abstract Background In the COVID-19 pandemic, rumors travel far faster than the outbreak itself. The current study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the attitudes of individuals towards the rumors-producing media in Iran. Methods An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in Iran in March...

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Autores principales:	Morteza Banakar, Ahmad Kalateh Sadati, Leila Zarei, Saeed Shahabi, Seyed Taghi Heydari, Kamran Bagheri Lankarani
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	BMC 2021
Materias:	COVID-19 Rumor Coronavirus Misinformation Crisis management Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e5f5c2da9028496488db453289cfd939
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e5f5c2da9028496488db453289cfd9392021-12-05T12:09:36ZPublic sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran10.1186/s12889-021-12254-x1471-2458https://doaj.org/article/e5f5c2da9028496488db453289cfd9392021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12254-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/1471-2458Abstract Background In the COVID-19 pandemic, rumors travel far faster than the outbreak itself. The current study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the attitudes of individuals towards the rumors-producing media in Iran. Methods An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in Iran in March 2020 on the source of information and rumors, along with the perception of individuals regarding the reasons for rumors propagation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Results showed that the majority of the participants (59.3%) believed that social media were the main source of rumors. The lack of a reliable and formal news resource was also considered the most common cause of rumoring by the participants (63.6%). An evaluation was carried out to identify the main source of misinformation and rumors. Results showed that Retired participants considered foreign media (P < 0.001) as the main resource. The middle-income level participants believed that social media (P < 0.001) were the main source. In this regard, the highly educated participants (P < 0.001), government employees, and middle-income individuals (P = 0.008) believed that national media produced rumors. Conclusion Although findings were achieved during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the authorities immediately introduced the national media as a reliable news resource, which allowed both media and its journalists to reduce the gap between themselves and the public sphere. It was suggested that social networks and foreign media be more accountable in pandemics.Morteza BanakarAhmad Kalateh SadatiLeila ZareiSaeed ShahabiSeyed Taghi HeydariKamran Bagheri LankaraniBMCarticleCOVID-19RumorCoronavirusMisinformationCrisis managementPublic aspects of medicineRA1-1270ENBMC Public Health, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	COVID-19 Rumor Coronavirus Misinformation Crisis management Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
spellingShingle	COVID-19 Rumor Coronavirus Misinformation Crisis management Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Morteza Banakar Ahmad Kalateh Sadati Leila Zarei Saeed Shahabi Seyed Taghi Heydari Kamran Bagheri Lankarani Public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran
description	Abstract Background In the COVID-19 pandemic, rumors travel far faster than the outbreak itself. The current study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the attitudes of individuals towards the rumors-producing media in Iran. Methods An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in Iran in March 2020 on the source of information and rumors, along with the perception of individuals regarding the reasons for rumors propagation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Results showed that the majority of the participants (59.3%) believed that social media were the main source of rumors. The lack of a reliable and formal news resource was also considered the most common cause of rumoring by the participants (63.6%). An evaluation was carried out to identify the main source of misinformation and rumors. Results showed that Retired participants considered foreign media (P < 0.001) as the main resource. The middle-income level participants believed that social media (P < 0.001) were the main source. In this regard, the highly educated participants (P < 0.001), government employees, and middle-income individuals (P = 0.008) believed that national media produced rumors. Conclusion Although findings were achieved during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the authorities immediately introduced the national media as a reliable news resource, which allowed both media and its journalists to reduce the gap between themselves and the public sphere. It was suggested that social networks and foreign media be more accountable in pandemics.
format	article
author	Morteza Banakar Ahmad Kalateh Sadati Leila Zarei Saeed Shahabi Seyed Taghi Heydari Kamran Bagheri Lankarani
author_facet	Morteza Banakar Ahmad Kalateh Sadati Leila Zarei Saeed Shahabi Seyed Taghi Heydari Kamran Bagheri Lankarani
author_sort	Morteza Banakar
title	Public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran
title_short	Public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran
title_full	Public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran
title_fullStr	Public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran
title_full_unstemmed	Public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran
title_sort	public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the covid-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in iran
publisher	BMC
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e5f5c2da9028496488db453289cfd939
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Public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran

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