Study Finds More COVID-19 Cases Among Viewers Of Fox News Host Who Downplayed Pandemic

https://www.npr.org/local/309/2020/05/04/849109486/study-finds-more-c-o-v-i-d-19-cases-among-viewers-of-fox-news-host-who-downplayed-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR03RRR6rDTUVjWTMKLyOoiS0UgEJbT44ISj324wXmJ20PD3vp9mUG9RyDQ

Natalie Moore
May 4, 2020

An April study about the effects of coronavirus media coverage analyzed two popular Fox News cable programs — and claims how one host talked about the threat of the coronavirus resulted in greater numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Researchers at the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at University of Chicago took a deep dive into those implications in the working paper "Misinformation During a Pandemic," in which they examined the audience that watched Hannity versus Tucker Carlson Tonight.

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The economists examined scripts from shows and studied how differential exposure to the two shows affected behavior and health outcomes. Conservative hosts Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson support President Donald Trump, and they are at the helm of the two, most-widely viewed cable news shows in the U.S. But they took different broadcasting paths when the coronavirus first hit the U.S.

The paper notes that Carlson was an outlier on Fox and, as early as Jan. 28, spent a chunk of his show discussing the dangers of a global pandemic. He continued to warn of deadly consequences.

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Meanwhile, Hannity downplayed coronavirus as just the flu and emphasized that Democrats were politicizing the virus to undermine Trump.

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By mid-March the host changed his posture and began to broadcast CDC guidelines, according to the paper. "If you feel sick, stay at home. If your kids feel sick, don't send them to school or day care. If someone in your household has tested positive for coronavirus, please self-quarantine your entire household. Keep them at home," Hannity told his viewers.

To examine the relationship between viewership of Hannity and Tucker Carlson Tonight and their changes in behavior in response to the coronavirus — washing hands more often, practicing social distancing and cancelling travel plans — the authors surveyed 1,045 Fox News viewers aged 55 or older in early April 2020.

The paper says viewership of Hannity relative to Carlson is associated with approximately 30% more COVID-19 cases by March 14, and 21% more COVID-19 deaths by March 28.

"In line with the differences in content, we find that Hannity's viewers on average changed their behavior in response to the coronavirus five days later than other Fox News viewers, while Carlson's viewers changed behavior three days earlier than other Fox News viewers," the authors wrote.

The paper says it is possible that these effects will fade over time. And it acknowledges that the findings cannot yet speak to long-term effects. However, it shows how misinformation in the early stages of a pandemic can have important consequences for how a disease ultimately affects the population.

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