Title: BBC London’s Coverage of The Covid-19 Pandemic
Thesis Supervisor: <Name>
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of <insert>
2020
Abstract
This scholarly thesis aims at analyzing the media coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic by the BBC London news since its confirmation in Wuhan, China. The data used in the research is fundamentally non-statistical collected from secondary sources on the underlying media coverage. A content analysis research approach is used in the dissertation that focuses on BBC London as a media entity concerning its coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. The research makes use of various secondary sources to make an interpretational observation of images, words, metaphors, and phrases used in news articles from BBC London’s website in addition to YouTube videos and television broadcasts. Using discourse analysis, the data is analyzed based on personal and interpretational observation of media outputs and its effects on social reality.
Table of Contents
1.5 Significance of the Study. 10
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW… 11
2.1.1 Framing the SARS Crisis. 11
2.1.2 The UK Media framing of the 2003 SARS Epidemic. 12
2.1.3 Media Effects of Students during SARS Outbreak. 13
2.1.4 Covid-19 Media Behaviour Reports. 14
3.1 Data Collection Method. 16
3.1.2 Ethnographic Methods. 17
3.2 Ethical Considerations. 18
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS. 18
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Across human history, humanity has undergone various forms of calamities that have gone down in historical records. In the midst of calamities, members of the public really on the media for accurate coverage of events. The daily updates were important in keeping the public aware of vital issues and regulate emotions. At the beginning of the year, the world was awakened by news of an influenza-like disease outbreak that attacks the human respiratory system with zoonotic associations as the origin(Petropoulos and Makridakis, 2020, p. 79). The was initially associated with pneumonia and originating in China in Wuhan City in Hubei province. The symptoms were initially flu-like characterized by fever, and coughing which escalated to a severe level. Patients also recorded difficulties in breathing, kidney failure, and deteriorating liver functions within an unknown incubation period of the disease. The dynamics of the disease outbreaks quickly changed as local public health officials, doctors, and scientists reported cases of the disease as patients began to cluster in medical facilities. A rapid response team was dispatched by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to Wuhan city and the larger Hubei province for etiological and epidemiological investigation. The report revealed cases of the outbreak to have begun as early as November of 2019 with about 266 people contracting the disease and went under medical surveillance. The novel Coronavirus was later identified as the primary cause of the flu with serious complications with similar symptoms to the common cold. The World Health Organization announced the outbreak as a public health emergency on January 30th, 2020.
Across the world, public health officials and the media worked in critical communication to inform the public of the disease including the risks, vulnerabilities. The public looked up to the media for the conveyance of information that is up-to-date as well as accurate. In the UK, the BBC London News has been the main source of information and relied upon by locals as well as outsiders in order to make informed medical health decisions. The Covid-19 outbreak is similar to the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak that started in China. BBC London News began reporting on the outbreak in April 2003 with the first focus being foreigners living in China. The World Health Organization reported the first case of the outbreak in November of 2002 in the Southern Chinese province of Guangdong (Janigan, 2003, p. 22). Like other local and international media, the BBC LONDON seem to focus on the outbreak from an outsider perspective with little attention to the local attention. The BBC LONDON and the international media focused on China as the epitome of the outbreak and source of the virus. The media captured the attitudes of outsiders including those living in China as well as the respective countries they came from. The death of foreigners in China was captured by media reports across BBC London outlets with the first case being a Finish executive working the International Labour Organization who succumbed on 6th April 2003. Allegations of a coverup by the Chinese authorities were ripe in most of the initial coverage of the outbreak by the BBC LONDON. According to an article published by the BBC LONDON online platform on the 9th of April 2003, China was under accusations for allegedly hiding the actual extent of the outbreak and the true number of confirmed cases. The government was in a desperate measure to lessen the fears among the public on the illness.
1.2 Problem Statement
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the lies of humanity have been altered with the future being unprecedented. The dramatic changes in daily routines for the normal citizens, governments, and the private sector have created a huge impact on the social behaviors and consumption of media. According to the “Covid-19 Media Behaviour Report” complied by Havas Media Group (2020), the current situation under the virus outbreak has been characterized by a shift in how people access and consume the media. UK citizens have been forced to shift from normal behaviors and rely on BBC London for coverage of news on the outbreak in the midst of ambiguous government reports.
In the modern era, the media forms a critical part of our society which makes it an inevitable resource for the conveyance of information to the public. As stated by Garfin, Silver, and Holman (2020), the demand for information during pandemics and crisis situations increases as the pubic looks up to the media for accurate information in order to make important decisions. In these situations, anxiety and uncertainties are usually at a high level which makes the situation potentially problematic. It is therefore important to keep the public well informed and ensure that there is less or no panic as well as maintain healthy and protective behaviors. As the main media outlet in the UK, BBC London is the heart of the national and international coverage of news that affects locals and outsiders as well.
1.3 Objectives
The objective of this qualitative research is to study and analyze the coverage of the coronavirus outbreak by the BBC London news. In the midst of any crisis, the role of the media is crucial in keeping the public updated and reducing confusion which might cause psychological distress and panic. This paper studies the effectiveness of the coverage of the Covid-19 epidemic by BBC London. It provides a contextual observation and tracking of the Covid-19 outbreak in China to other parts of the world. the use of inductive relationships between the social reality and the constructed meaning in media coverage of the coronavirus. During an epidemic, access to information is a valuable necessity without which the public may be forced to rely on unreliable sources that may result in chaos and confusion. The research further explores gaps, discrepancies, weaknesses, challenges, and achievements of the coverage. In this respect, usable observations and recommendations can be generated for use in evaluating future coverage of events.
1.4 Research Questions
- What was in the news?
- What was the content?
- What were the writings, images, videos, drawings used in the coverage?
- How was the news delivered?
- What was the structure of the content?
- What are the interpretive theories and concepts of the news reports?
1.5 Significance of the Study
BBC London is one of the most trusted media outlets in the UK as presented in the research study conducted in 2011 by communication services regulator Ofcom. In the report, 59% of the participants were of the opinion that BBC is their most trusted source of news. Participants also aired their views on high expectations of the broadcaster on providing impartial and internally plural information to the public. Respondents also presented high expectations of BBC London than other media stations on the basis of behavior. Fifty-five percent (55%) of the respondents strongly agreed on the need for impartially to be the heart of BBC London’s media culture (Havas Media Group, 2020). It is therefore one of the most reliable news outlets with a huge viewership with 58% of the agreeing on its accuracy on the conveyance of information, 56% agreeing that it is trustworthy and 54% having the opinion that the quality of news coverage is high. The BBC London news is therefore a critical source of information in the UK. The coverage of the Cvd-19 epidemic is therefore an interesting topic for which this research project is based upon.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Previous Research
This chapter evaluates previous and relevant research studies that are available and useful in providing a wider context of the research project. In the generally accepted research processes, this step is crucial in the development and refinement of the research questions as well as providing information on possible challenges, research gaps as well as possible conflicts (Ramdhani et al., 2014, p. 52). It, therefore, helps a researcher in reconceptualizing a research project. In the context of this research project, the were challenges in compiling the literature review on the coverage of the Coronavirus by BBC London due to very few almost non-existent research studies conducted on the topic. The project is therefore unique from a research perspective as the topic is technically new due to the connection to the time of the events. However, the few primary and secondary sources used in the analysis are comprehensively detailed.
2.1.1 Framing the SARS Crisis
In 2003, the world came under the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which was spread from person to person. With its origin in Mainland China, it spread to other parts including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Canada. Amidst the outbreak, the media became a center of global framing and positioning of the crisis. The BBC London News and CNN were one of the major media outlets due to large viewership across the globe. Due to the differences in historical relations, interests, and proximities, BBC London’s coverage affected the coverage of the crisis. Using Computer-aided text analysis, researcher Stewart Concetta conducted the study that showed differences in the use of language between the BBC and CNN media outlets in the coverage of the SARS outbreak. BBC London’s coverage comprised of various issues including “virus’, “cases”, “outbreak”, ‘infected” and disease. The ward “SARS” appeared accounted for 15.1% of the words used in news articles (Tian and Stewart, 2005, p. 5). The words ‘travel” “Health” In the CNN coverage, the word accounted for 13.7% of the words used in the coverage. There was a difference in the coverage of the economic impact of the virus in the coverage by BBC London and CNN. The BBC London News also showed significantly less cluster on the coverage of economic impact compared to CNN. The use of certain words such as “Yen’, “death”, “higher”, “hit”, “down” and ‘countries’ were used on numerous occasions by CNN. The fluctuations in the value of the Yen and impact on China’s economy as well as other Asian countries were significantly covered in the CNN coverage.
2.1.2 The UK Media framing of the 2003 SARS Epidemic
The media coverage of the 2003 SARS outbreak in the UK with a varying range of interests. News on the SARS was of national interest and became the center of news coverage during this period. In the coverage, Hong Kong and Toronto were given considerable focus by the media in the UK due to the historical and political affiliations associated with the regions (Smith, 2006). The stories heavily relied on information from governments, the WHO, and human interests. The coverage also covered concerns over the threat to the local population within the UK with newspapers presenting the outbreak as a great danger. In the same respect, sections of the media dismissed the outbreak as only panic (Wallis and Nerlich, 2005, p. 4).
Contrary to expectation the coverage of the SARS outbreak lacked the militaristic metaphors such as “battling”, “war” and “battle” in the early periods of the outbreak. Normally such metaphors are standard in the language used in the West for crises (Smith, 2006, p. 6). The war metaphors were predominantly absent in the presentation of information in the early periods of the outbreak. The use of war metaphors however increased with time as the use of “combat” and “defense” were used to describe preventive measures in different countries.
The major metaphor used in the majority of the coverage was “killer” which was used to discuss the dynamics of the disease as well as impact. This metaphor was majorly dominant across major media reports in the country. Similarly, phrases such as “deadly bug”, “killer plague” and “killer virus” were used to describe the SARS. These metaphors and phrases were used together with phrases such as “simply kills” and “claims victims” in a particularly violent and sensationally manner across major media reports.
2.1.3 Media Effects of Students during the SARS Outbreak
During the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, the importance of the media in fast and accurate communications became prominent. In the study conducted by Bergeron and Sanchez involving a sample of university students, the majority of there were very low levels of awareness on the causes, symptoms, transmission, and treatment on the SARS. Using a random sample of 310 students, the study collected a wide range of information ranging from the forms and frequency of media consumed, opinions on the amount of media coverage on the outbreak, and the levels of emotional distress during the outbreak.
The media was found to be a valuable resource for the coverage of the pandemic and provision of risk information. The lack of a comprehensive strategy among the international ad local media outlets in the reporting of events led to widespread confusion among the public. There numerous conflicting information available to members of the public which led to uncertainties in both the media and the public. The media also communicated conflicting messages. The study results showed that participants accessed more than one source of information with the internet being the major source with 89% of the participants preferring it over other sources such as television radio, magazines, and newspapers (Bergeron and Sanchez, 2005, p. 6). Additionally, 43% of the participants had high anxiety levels. Due to poor coverage, there was low awareness of the outbreak with health students taking health majors being specifically aware of the dynamics of the disease. Key among the findings of the report was the opinions that the coverage had been overdone. However, there was evidence of low anxiety among the participants as a result of poor knowledge of the outbreak. As the cases of global crisis become reality with the current Covid-19 outbreak, the role of the media and the framing of coverage is inevitably important (Janigan, 2003, p. 4). This discrepancy is attributed to the gap between the media coverage and the information absorbed by the participants.
2.1.4 Covid-19 Media Behaviour Reports
These are reports on the qualitative research studies that were conducted by the Havas Media Group in the UK on the media coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic since its confirmation. In the report, various dynamics o human lives amidst the outbreak such as the shift in the role of the media, changes in the daily routines, and behavior of the public are explored. As argued by Havas Media Group (2020), there has been a significant increase in the feelings of confusion and a consequent decrease in the sense of well-being since the outbreak of the virus. The anxiety among members of the public has cut across the masses including the younger population with the impact on daily lives and the economy being of significant concern. According to fieldwork study results conducted between 11th March and 12th May showed significant effects on the mental well-being of the participants.
The framing analysis examines the mode of story-telling used in the media in the coverage of certain events. According to Gandy (2001, p. 67), a particular event can have more than one frame that may lead to a different understanding of the same issue by the audience. The frame analysis, therefore, analyses the structure of messages as well as the perception that might arise from the information. During this period, there was a general increase in the consumption of media content in the UK for awareness purposes in an aim to acquire accurate information. BBC London was found to be the most trusted media outlet across the age groups for correct information on Covid-19 with 65% of the general study participants preferring it as the primary source. Within the first wave of the research project which took part between 17-18 March, the levels of anxiety, confusion, and feeling overwhelmed and unsafe were high. On anxiety, 39% of the sample population said they were anxious, 19% felt unsafe, 21% felt confused, and 22% said they were overwhelmed by the outbreak. As time went by, the anxiety increased to 41% of the study population by the end of March. The percentage of those who seemed distressed however decreased with time as the percentage of those who were anxious decreased 24% by the end of the study on 12th May. This number increased with age. Among participants between 18-24 years, 60% preferred BBC as their trusted media outlet. Among those between 55-64 years, the number increased with 68% preferring BBC over other media sources.
The number of those who were confused reduced from 21% between 17-18 March to 11% by 13th April. From here, the number increased sharply to 24% by the end of the study on 12th May. This increase is attributed to the lack of understanding of the updates on public health behaviors and lockdown rules.
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the fact-finding approaches used in the research study to collect, sort, and analyze data.
3.1 Data Collection Method
In generally accepted qualitative research processes, the common data collection methods are observation, content analysis, and qualitative interviews (McTavish and Pirro, 1990, p. 245). In this research study, a system of three research methods including content analysis, ethnography, and observation.
3.1.1 Content Analysis
Content analysis was the main and the most instrumental method in the qualitative research data collection(Holsti, 1968, p. 680). In this discourse analytical approach, I searched the BBC London’s website for content from previous interviews, articles, speech media reports, and discussions on the Covid-19 outbreak since its confirmation in Wuhan China. This method is very effective in finding the goal of specific content and easy to use. It makes inferences by objectively and systematically analyzing the content for special characteristics of the message (Holsti, 1968, p. 690). The composition, patterns, structure, and methods of delivery of the content were examined. Compared to other quantities of data collection methods, the content analysis offers a non-obstructive research design on a topic in which there are no alternative methods (Abrams and Harpham, 2014, p. 54). The analysis involved searching, quantification, and conceptualization of the content for the use of language, metabolization, and certain phrases that were used in the coverage. The context, meanings, and themes are also examined based on the collected included audio-visual materials including text, images, drawings, and videos. The method is however restrictive to the only available content. It also explains the composition of content and the structure but fails to provide the “why”. In order to assess the social and cultural issues during the Covid-19 epidemic, the content analysis offers suitable procedures ad approaches when combined with other ethnographic methods (McTavish and Pirro, 1990, p. 254).
3.1.2 Ethnographic Methods
These methods are one of the and oldest methods of collecting data in qualitative research studies. It involved looking and listening to a target study audience within their fully functioning setting in a discreet manner. This approach involves the interaction between the researcher and the participants. In the research study, participant observation and ethnography were fundamentally instrumental in the collection of data using one’s senses. Essentially, these approaches involved systematically looking, listening, and interacting with a target population in a social setting in a meaningful manner. As highlighted by Smit and Onwuegbuzie (2018, p. 256), this approach allows the collection of information that has not been captured by other traditional methods of qualitative research data collection. In this approach, my target population was limited to family members and friends while they were watching the news. Ethnography is especially user-centered and offered a deeper understanding of people’s reactions to BBC London’s coverage. Within the natural setting, the target population was easily assessed as the news was broadcasted on TV, radio, and YouTube and data recorded. The observations included complete participant, complete observer, and observer-as-participant research approaches as I changed roles during multiple research occasions. I acted as a peripheral research actor as a nonparticipant observer and collected data from family members including and friends. I recorded their reactions to most news coverage by the BBC in the morning, afternoon, and evening shows broadcasted in the television as secretly as possible to avoid any suspicions.
3.2 Ethical Considerations
Considering the nature of the research study, there were several challenging ethical dilemmas that were encountered. The use of textual data rather than numerical and statistical data in this qualitative research study led to challenges on the relationship with the study material. The issue of informed consent raises an ethical question on the participant’s consent in the nature of the study and collection of data. During the data collection process, informing the participants when using covert participation in the observation may change the dynamics of the research. The participants behave differently if they are notified of the study and changing the outcome of the unobtrusive qualitative data collection process as well as the social reality of the news coverage.
Conducting the research study while maintaining the anonymity of the participants is a difficult ethical issue as they were known to me.
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
4.1 Discussion
This chapter involves the analysis of the data collected in the previous stage to make deductive meaning. The analysis of qualitative data makes use of discourse studies that are used in the examination of vocal, written, and sign language. This tool studies go beyond the linguistic characteristics of the language used to include the sentence boundaries and the use of natural language. As argued by Holsti (1968), discourse analysis philosophically creates a social reality from the language used in the secondary data especially in text and speech forms. In the research process, discourse analysis focuses on the presentation of content in the media outputs from BBC London including digital articles, videos, and television broadcasts.
As highlighted by the American Psychology Association, the news reports, and coverage on the Covid-19 pandemic are creating anxiety among the public. The role of the media during the pandemic remains key in keeping things in the correct perspective. In the coverage of the outbreak, there were cases of BBC Media coverage that were characterized by panic-driving images, headlines, and videos that enlists anxiety (American Psychology Association, 2020). The general coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak by BBC London News has been generally moderate and superficial compared to the 2003 SARS coverage. The striking difference is in the use of language to describe the disease and outbreak since its confirmation.
Metaphors in the BBC London’s Coverage of Covid-19
The coverage of the COvid-119 outbreak by BBC London News has been distinctively different when compared to the 2013 coverage of the SARS outbreak. One critical difference is in the use of metaphors and phrases to describe the virus and the outbreak in general. The use of certain metaphors that were present in the SARS coverage is certainly absent. The district characteristic was the absence of war and plague metaphors which have been used over the past in the framing of epidemics in the country and beyond. In the coverage of the 2003 SARS outbreak, we saw the use of powerful war metaphors by the BBC London news. The reason behind this disparity can be attributed to the correlation between the scale of the threat. According to Kinsella (1989, p. 156), the priorities in the cultural concerns and consequent emphasis in media coverage of the SARS was correlated to the interpretation of the threat to the local population.
The media coverage of disease outbreaks in the West has been from the past been based on a standard metaphorical system which is characterized by the use of war metaphors. The use of certain metaphors such as “battle”, “defeat” and “war” which were occasionally used in the SARS coverage is strikingly absent in BBC London’s coverage. BBC London’s coverage has minimal connections to war despite the epidemic having more impact on lives. War metaphors have been used sparingly do describe the outbreak. Similarly, the description of the virus has been different with the lack of certain phrases such as “killer virus”, “deadly bug” and “killer plague” being the most notable in the BC London’s coverage. Comparatively, the SARS coverage saw the use of these metaphors which characterized the SARS framing and created a lot of fear and panic. These metaphors were dominant in the SARS discussions and coverage which characterized how the virus was presented to the public.
The coverage of Covid-19 is strikingly different from the use of strong and militaristic metaphors being absent. The most prominent characteristic of the COvid-19 coverage by the BBC London News has been the localization of the outbreak based on geography. There have been strong ties between the Covid-19 virus outbreak to localities and attenuation to its origin. Comparatively, the insignificant use of the original narrative in the SARS coverage was strikingly observable. The early coverage of the virus focused on China which was the epicenter. Gradually, the coverage expanded to other countries as the virus spread quickly across Asia to other parts of the world. This has led to an “origin narrative” with Mainland China being perceived as the origin of the virus. The confirmation of positive cases of the virus was characterized by the use of group identity including ethnicity and nationality of the patients. The use of words such as “Italian” and “Chinese” depicting the nationality and ethnicity of patients testing positive has been common in the BBC London’s coverage. The coverage also tracks the movement of individuals who are confirmed positive from their suspected point of contact with the virus. This was seen in the coverage of the first confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the UK.
News of the confirmation of the first Coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom on the 31st of January 2020 identified the patients based on their ethnicity. The two cases were described as “Chinese nationals” from the same family who tested positive of the virus after traveling from Wuhan, China. One of the cases involved a student at the University of York. Both patients were transferred to a specialized isolation facility in Newcastle from Hull University Teaching Hospital. At this moment, a total of 213 had died of the virus in China,10,000 more infected and 80,000 put under medical observation. On the 11th of February, a third case of the virus in the UK was confirmed as reported by the BBC London News. Th broadcast with the headline “Third UK patient caught coronavirus in Singapore” identified the 53-year-old Steven Walsh as a “British” businessman who contracted the virus while working for a firm dealing in gas analysis equipment. Despite the patient having caught the virus in Singapore, BBC London’s report found a way to link the case to China. In the specific description, the reporter described Walsh’s point of contact with the virus as not “particularly China where many of other cases of the virus has been found, but elsewhere in Asia”. As highlighted by Wen et al. (2020, p. 1), this form of media coverage of the virus has put individuals of Chinese and Asian descent under undue stress which has consequently incited anger as well as racial and xenophobic attitudes against the respective groups.
Walsh was nicknamed a super spreader after making contact with a total of 11 people across the UK, France, and Spain within a few days. In the UK Walsh interacted with five individuals including Mrs. Catriona Greenwood, his wife who worked in Brighton at the County Oak medical facility as a locum GP. This forced the administration to temporally close the medical nursing home after 12 patients came into contact with Mrs. Greenwood and a fellow worker at the facility.
Consequently, the stigmatization of individuals, racial, national, and social groups has become unavoidable due to this narrative. Panic and hostility toward Chinese and individuals of Asia descent have been collateral as a result of this coverage. On the 24th of February, Jonathon Mok, a student of Singaporean descent was attacked by four men while walking near Tottenham Court Road Tube station along Oxford street. The said perpetrators attacked Mr. Mok while shouting slurs while vary angry. As reported by the victim, one of the perpetrators threw a punch hitting his nose and leading to a fracture on the face near the eyes. The images of his bruised faced circulated across the internet. An X-ray examination by a specialist revealed a broken bone on the right side of his face. Individuals of Asian origin have faced various forms of racial attacks including violence. Those of whom wear masks are automatically isolated and targeted while riding on the Tube on the assumption that they are sick.
Control and Response Coverage
On the 20th of March, BBC London aired a report on the possibility of the Covid-19 restrictions being extended across the year. The use of the phrase “seriously restrictive measures” by the government for the rest of the year is a particularly powerful phrase. Nurses from 48-hour long shifts of work were coming to empty store shelves with no food and grocery supplies. In a widely watched social media clip of a video by Dawn Bilbrough, a critical care nurse, the sad story of nurses across the country came into the limelight. The crucial situation of panic buying and hoarding drove sections of the population into despair. The emotional video came after the nurse arrived home and passing through the supermarket at the end of her shift. To her dismay, the shelves were empty with no fruits nor vegetables. The public seemed to have gone into a selfish buying spree with little regard for fellow citizens. Mrs. Bilbrough pleaded with the public to appreciate the seriousness and damaging effects of panic buying on critical members of the public. The younger generation was, particularly of more concern.
On the 26th of March, another report of panic buying and hoarding of toilet paper was published on the BBC London’s website. Written by Lora Jones, the article covers the pandemic from a consumer perspective with cases of parcel deliveries being stolen. My family was caught up in the shortage after I made a purchase via eBay for 48 rolls of toilet paper with the toilet paper firm Who Gives A Crap. The delivery of the items was distinctively labeled as toilet paper which was not the wisest decision by the company. The whole delivery was stolen and never arrived.
In one observation incident of my family members during the broadcast of the BBC London’s news report on the panic purchases, there was clear scare of food shortages as the family raised the question on the number of food supplies available in the house. The earlier case of theft of toilet paper became a basis for a discussion on the need for stocking enough food supplies including long-life milk, pasta, rice, sugar, and coffee. Such fears over food supplies were amplified by media reports by BBC London on shopping sprees and stockpiling by members of the public.
On the 26th of March, BBC London published a report on the risk of panic purchases affecting vulnerable citizens in the country. In the article titled “What’s behind the great toilet roll grab” BBC London’s business correspondent Lora Jones captures attention with the sensational headline (Jones, 2020). By using such an approach, journalists add fuel to the fire with the use of photos and videos of shopping rampages. As seen among my family members and friends, the question over the impact of panic buying and the government’s role in controlling the situation was of high concern. The panic was amplified by news of people creating food banks in their homes was not doing any good (BBL London, 2020). As argued by a buyer who did not want to overbuy toilet paper made an Amazon order of the highly demanded product to cater to his disabled and cancer-ailing mum for the recommended isolation period of 12 weeks. To his surprise, the toilet paper rolls were not delivered. Josh believed that they were stolen from the delivery portal. Cases of toilet paper deliveries going missing were reported by several firms and sellers including eBay ventures
The YouTube video opened with a scene of an intensive care unit in Italy that was overwhelmed with patients and news of more than 600 people within 24 hours. In the UK, an interview with Dr. David Cohen on the situation in the country releveled the possibility of a shortage of ICU beds as the spread continues (BBC London News, 2020). There were predictions of harrowing times as the possibilities of intensive care beds became more realistic. The scene is significantly useful in the general report where BBC London’s medical correspondent Fergus Walsh takes the stage to provide the statistical data on the prevalence and vulnerabilities.
In this report, the question of whether the coronavirus is more active under warm or cold conditions comes up. Mr. Walsh explicitly points out the confusion as to whether warm weather will reduce the spread of the virus as summer approaches. Scientists seem to lack conclusive confirmation. The issues of possibility of a vaccine to reprieve the outbreak seem to be farfetched as reported.
BBC London’s use of photos of empty shelves inside stores as a result of bulk purchases caused by panic resulted in more panic among the public. As highlighted by, such media reports were accompanied by repeated broadcasts. On the 3rd April, BBC London’s business department released a media report titled “How do I get a food parcel?” In the report, cases of shopping stores imposing restrictions on the number of purchases on individual items that customers can have.
Figure 2:BBC London News. (2020). A woman shopping in a store with empty shelves. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-51837892
Such images of customers in shopping stores with empty shales across major supermarkets. The report however failed to provide additional and useful information like the availability of food parcels by the government for individuals above the age of 70 years. The
The data from observation and the ethnographical study were analyzed using conversational analysis tools that focus on the participant’s consumption of BBC London’s news and social reality.
As the world engaged in a new year celebration and the start of a new decade, news of a disease outbreak in Wuhan, China. The presentation of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 has been marked by a mixture of mood and attitudes ranging from accusations, indifference, ignorance, fear, confusion, paranoia, and full-blown panic as the outbreak spread across the world. The BBC LONDON released a report on the outbreak on the 12th of February 2020 detailing the start from patient zero and the spread of the virus in China. The news was generally critical over the origin of the virus. As reported by the BBC LONDON, the outbreak is believed to have started in the Wuhan wet markets which became the focus of the outbreak after the initial patients were found to be visitors and workers of the market which is known for fresh meat including fish and birds. The first death was reported in Wuhan on the 9th of January with confirmed cases totaling 41 people. In the wake of the confirmation that the virus can spread from one individual to another, media reports began conveying the possible realities of the outbreak as the anxiety among the public grew with the possibility of a full-blown outbreak being considered. Fear, anxiety and serious concerns began setting in as the media covered the outbreak with dramatic sensation with an apocalyptic fashion. News of hundreds of deaths, thousands of infections, and the disease quickly spreading across the world were the images reaching the world from China were apocalyptic with people wearing face masks and medical professionals in body suites.
BBC London was ahead in tracking the outbreak as it spread across the world. Similar to the SARS outbreak the BBC LONDON covered the wide range of criticism against the Chinese authorities as the case of the virus began to arise outside of China and the WHO declaration of global emergency. On the 11th of February 2020, the WHO officially named the virus “Covid-19”. Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the WHO chief addressed the world in a message that aimed at making the outbreak a global problem rather than a Chinese problem. The official naming of the outbreak to have been attributed to the confusions and stigmatization associated with any individual, animal, groups, and geographies. The report by the WHO pointe out countries with weak healthcare systems and those with economic challenges such as third world countries in Central America, Africa, Asia, and North Korea as the most at risk with possibilities of great suffering.
In the early stages of the outbreak across the world, there were widespread misinformation and propaganda theories that were furthered trying to explain the origin of the outbreak. As journalists and medical researchers worked in communicating verified information on the virus, the pressure and anxiety from the public increased. The BBC LONDON reported widespread mixed feelings with a heightened appraisal of the threat and complete disregard of the seriousness of the virus being evident due to a lack of concise and dependable information from governments. The ambiguity of information provided by the WHO, local governments, and social media users increased the uncertainties over the controllability of the virus. The BBC LONDON reported propaganda campaigns and fake news led by conspiracy theorists gaining popularity each day as the virus spread across the globe. As reported by BBC LONDON technology correspondent Rory Callen, there were widespread misinformation campaigns that attributed the Covid-19 outbreak to 5G technology. The perpetrators worked in organized groups across popular social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter spreading fake information. According to Cellan-Jones (2020), numerous Facebook groups on 5G technology were created within a few months and gained many followers. With billions of users, these platforms provided a fertile ground for misinformation and propaganda targeting naïve minds to further negative attitudes against 5G network technology and vaccines. One of the groups named “Stop 5G UK” was the most vibrant with more than 27,000 members and spreading vicious fake news. The members also spread inaccurate information in comments on 5G technology posts that scare even the average user. Multiple links to shady websites and videos that connect the virus to 5G network technology as the cause of the outbreak in China were rampant. The BBC LONDON article captures the extent of the organized disinformation campaigns that targeted lazy users who consume information on the first site without verification.
As presented by various BBC LONDON reports, the world did not take the virus outbreak seriously as seen in the attitudes among the public. BBC LONDON captured various social media platforms being used to spread disinformation and misinform the public. Mr. Callen reports of users downplaying the seriousness of the virus as just flu or cold. This narrative was further used to misinform the public that the virus is a cover-up for illnesses cause y 5G and EMF technologies. There were further links to fake websites with articles connecting the virus outbreak in Wuhan to the launch of 5G. Various YouTube videos were also being circulated on the internet and furthering a conspiracy narrative of the virus being a fake alarm. Other propaganda and unverified conspiracies were traded between China and the US of the virus being an engineered tool created in the lab as a bioweapon. These conspiracy theories added nothing but fear, anxiety, and confusion among the public.
According to the BBC LONDON report on the 4th of march, there are seven types of people who are likely to spread misinformation on the coronavirus. After hundreds of investigations on misdealing conspiracies, the motives, and ideas behind the misinformation campaigns, the report revealed that the public was believing some of these stories that are potentially alarming. In one of the cases, a prankster created a fake screenshot of a text with a receipt of a fine for leaving his house. The screenshot was shared across multiple social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram. Furthermore, the prankster encouraged his followers to share the screenshot with their friends offline. Surprisingly, a lot of people took the prank seriously and became worried. In his admission, the prankster didn’t aim at creating panic but actually realized how gullible the public was in consuming any information on the internet without any sort of re-evaluation. Apart from jokers, scammers, politicians, celebrities, relatives, conspiracy theorists, and relatives are most likely to mislead the public by spreading misinformation (Wen et al., 2020, p. 330).
The outbreak of the virus seems to have created an opportunity for scammers to earn some money from innocent and naïve members of the public. According to the BBC LONDON report by Marianna Spring, a specialized disinformation reporter, incidents of scammers using the pandemic to steal from the public were reported as the use of text messages generated by scammers and purporting to be from the government began circulating. One of such scams involved a group that sent out messages asking for personal and bank details on the claim that the government is sending Covid-19 relief funds to people. The phishing scams created fake websites mimicking official government websites to harvest personal and bank details. The United Kingdom’s cybercrime police reporting department Action Fraud identified one of the sites with the domain name “www.uk-covid-9-relieve.com.” The site was asking for personal information including postcodes, back and card details such as name, card number, account number, and security code. The website and Facebook links have since been flagged.
Conspiracy theories on the virus have also been significantly damaging and posing serious concerns to the public. There has been an infinite number of false and murky stories on the virus ranging from its origin, its spread, and vaccine being created each day and circulating across social media platforms. In one of the callout Twitter posts by Fergus Walsh, there was a fake story being circulated purporting that the first covid-19 vaccine volunteer had died (Twitter, 2020). Dr. Elisa Granato, the volunteer with the Oxford vaccine program for research on the Covid-19 vaccine was actually alive and fine contrary to the fake report of her death. Professor Andrew Pollard, the chief staff at the Oxford Vaccine Group aired concerns of such fake news and the damaging potential to the research program and the general ability to contain the virus(Walsh, 2020).
Figure 1:Twitter (2020). A screenshot of Elisa Granato’s Tweet
The government began taking the issue seriously in a crackdown aimed at eradicating fake news and misinformation associated with the virus. The Cabinet office set up a rapid response unit under the leadership of Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to work with social media platforms. The extent of damage to the misinformation was reported to be risky with the possibilities of costing life if unchecked. According to BBC London, the special unit began working in March and dealt with more than ten incidents each day ranging from phishing scams ran by criminals, falsification of medical information, and posing as medical experts on social media experts. Secretary Dowden reiterated on the importance of following government reports and advice as they are backed by scientific expertise (BBC London News, 2020). There have been growing concerns across the board over fake news with some officials calling for the criminalization of sharing wrong information knowingly. Disinformation campaigners caught violating the rules were fined. A campaign dubbed “Do Not Feed the Beast” which was aimed at educating the public on the seriousness of disinformation in undermining government efforts. The campaign urged the public to be careful about the information they shared and being skeptical of the information on online platforms.
The global media including BBC London did their part in presenting the lockdown in Wuhan and Hubei from a Western perspective. In the wake of the lockdown in Wuhan, BBC LONDON published an article that virtually discredited the lockdown and its effectiveness in containing the virus. Titled “How do you quarantine a city – and does it work?” The report begins by portraying the dynamics of the city including the population, daily activities to and from their workplaces, the size of the city, and transport networks. The possibility of completely putting the city under an effective lockdown is critically questioned by the report. The more important question of its effectiveness of a lockdown of the 11-million-people city and containing the spread is further questioned given that the lockdown came down twenty-three days after the first confirmed case. The lockdown came too late as there were already 571 cases across the country with 196 of them outside Hubei province. The report by Owen Amos (2020), also features news of other countries including Mexico shutting down football grounds, theaters, cinemas, bars, and churches in 2009 in the midst of the swine flu outbreak. The report surprisingly points out the measure to have been effective in slowing down the transmission of the virus across Mexico.
On January 30th of 2020, BBC LONDON published a report that featured a supposed diary of a Chinese citizen living under the lockdown in Wuhan, a city with eleven million citizens. The supposed social worker tracks her experience since January 23rd when the whole city was placed under lockdown in order to contain the spread of the virus. The article is generally characterized by a sad mood as the individual lived alone. Like the images in the media, the lockdown was characterized by shortages in food supplies and face masks. The BBC LONDON reported residents complaining of access to food stocks including certain vegetables and prices increasing. The Chinese food delivery service and courier industry were instrumental in solving supply challenges and helping Wuhan in dealing with the virus. Many food delivery firms such as Meituan ventured into technology including developing apps to aid in the delivery process and avoid face-to-face meetings between customers and delivery personnel. This allowed customers to get their suppliers at their doorsteps.
At this point, the government instituted various regulations to contain the spread of the virus in the country. On the 10th of February, news of new quarantine regulations and measures dubbed “Health Protection Regulations 2020” was announced by the Secretary of State giving public health consultants proportionate quarantine powers. The measures included a declaration of the seriousness and imminent threat of the virus to the public health. The Secretary of State stated the regulations as reasonable and aimed at a considerably significant spread of the virus. Among the regulations, the detention of individuals by public health consultants came as unexpected as the country was slowly updated on the imminence of the virus. Individuals traveling from outside the UK into the county via air, water, or train could be forcibly detained for screening and assessment purposes for a period of up to 48 hrs. If deemed to be a serious and imminent threat to the public, individuals could be put under special restrictions and requirements such as mandatory quarantine and forced isolation based on a reasonable assessment of public health consultants.
The BBC LONDON initially presented the outbreak in the UK as manageable and predictable with a projection of a few numbers of initial cases with the potential of exponential growth over time. As compared to other virus outbreaks such as Ebola, SARS, and H1N1 swine flu, the potential of the Coronavirus outbreak causing more damages in the UK were however not inadmissible. As seen in China’s Hubei province and Italy, several BBC LONDON medical correspondents and analysts covered the potential of a major outbreak in the country and causing a major impact on the national health, the NHS and the economy. Despite the great optimism on the ability of the NHS to contain the spread, the burden and implications on the system were questionable as more imported cases increased from Italy and other countries. The scare of a potentially major outbreak was replicated amidst Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s confident speeches urging people to stay calm and faith in the NHS. Screening of the virus continued across the country with few new cases being confirmed. The BBC LONDON however predicted a potentially dire situation and pressure on the NHS as the outbreak continued across the country. On the morning interview on the breakfast show, Fergus Walsh, BBC LONDON medical correspondent identified the ICU facilities as possibly crowded as the impact of the virus caused a lack of oxygen in some of the patients who take a long time to recover.
As of 11th February, a total of 1,358 screening tests had been conducted across the country with 8 positive cases confirmed. As reported by BBC LONDON, the threat of the spread of the virus seemed to be potentially worsening as the day went by. On the following day, a new case was confirmed of a woman who traveled from China to London through Heathrow. The additional individuals totaling 83 who were quarantined in Wirral at Arrowe Park Hospital were tested and found to be negative. Among them was Jasmine Siddle, a nine-year girl who spent her birthday in the hospital
BBC LONDON was instrumental in public awareness campaigns that covered the signs and symptoms of the virus and how the public can help in stopping the spread. Fever was the main sign that was reported with victims presenting high body temperature above 37.8C accompanied by contagious coughing that may persist for an hour or more. Individuals exposed to the virus may experience these persistent coughs for multiple episodes with up to three in a single day. It was therefore advised to cover one’s face with a tissue to avoid the possibility of infecting other people nearby. According to a BBC LONDON report by James Gallagher, patients will also present tiredness and shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. The majority of those infected can recover after the administration of paracetamol to relieve the pain and resting. The difficulties in breathing however form the main reason for hospitalization of patients testing positive of the virus. Individuals who experience coughing episodes that hinder speech were identified as serious cases and advised to call for emergency medical services. The public was advised to be on high alert for symptoms and call the NHS service for any illnesses or mild animalities that hinder the normal daily routines. Patients hospitalized in special intensive care units that handle coronavirus cases were put on oxygen support using a tube through their nose or a face inhaler. There were reports of loss of taste and smell by some of the positive patients. Prevention measures such as frequently washing hands with gel and soap, sanitizing, avoiding close contact with people while in public were reported. The main issue was avoiding touching one face, nose, eyes, and mouth was widely discussed in interviews
In the midst of the virus in the UK, the government was predicting a low possibility of the virus spread in the country. As reported by the BBC LONDON, the government had established an action plan under the health secretary including recalling retired nurses, doctors, and other medical practitioners into the National Health Service and restricting the staffing system and relaxing the staff-to-pupil ratios. The secretary also created a war room that brought together scientists and advisers a plan for working from home for some industries.
4.2 Conclusion
The BBC London News has been a critical source of information for British locals and outsiders in general. The coverage of Covid-19 has been generally character by the use of a wide range of metaphors compared to the SARS coverage. The absence of militaristic and war metaphors has been prominently striking. The lack of certain metaphors and phrases such as “killer virus”, “simple kills’ and “killer plague in the Covid-19 coverage has been significant in maintaining panic and anxiety among members of the public at minimal levels.
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