Public’s Media Use and Gratification Sought during Corona Virus Outbreak in Indonesia: A National Survey

Abstract

The recent coronavirus outbreak is without a doubt a global crisis event that has affected almost all nations of the world. This study aims to contribute to crisis communication research from the audience perspective in Indonesia by presenting the public’s media use and gratification sought during the coronavirus outbreak based on a representative national mobile survey with 1,100 respondents. Results show that the majority of Indonesians intensively use (1) private television, (2-4) websites and social media accounts of actors providing information on the crisis and (5) public television to get information regarding the pandemic. The findings indicate that other types of media such as radio and local television are used to a much lower extent. Results also show that there are two media-use gratifications sought during the crisis: (1) information and direction gratification sought and (2) entertainment and comparison gratification sought. Sociodemographic factors such as gender, age and education level demonstrate some significant influence on public media use and the gratification sought during the coronavirus outbreak. Surprisingly, entertainment and comparison sought are demonstrated as having a higher effect on the increasing use of mass media, social media and messenger apps during the crisis event than the information and direction gratification sought.

An Analysis of Media Use, Gratification Sought, and Information Needs by Tourists in Bali before, during, and after the Covid-19 Pandemic

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“…A study in a destination in India indicates that language is the main obstacle in which local tourists get problems in accessing information online (31%) indicating low literacy and technology mastery. The foreign tourists' problem is the source credibility [5].…”

Supplemental Material for Media use and avoidance experiences during social distancing.

“…Media content may provide feelings of competence and security, by granting access to relevant information or problem-solving strategies; foster feelings of connectedness in situations where media users feel stressed or isolated; and facilitate mood regulation and distraction from stress-inducing events and cognitions. These emotional experiences may be particularly relevant to users during the uncertainty of a global pandemic (Ledbetter et al, 2016;Rochyadi-Reetz et al, 2020). At the same time, individuals may also be avoiding certain media because they are semantically similar to stressors (e.g., news about COVID or fictional depictions of pandemics) or because they induce negative emotions such as fear (e.g., dystopian thrillers or horror films).…”

Rontoknya independensi pers cetak dan online di Kota Medan

“…Studi Haq (2018) membahas bagaimana harian Kompas melakukan transformasi digital untuk mempertahankan pembacanya. Sementara itu studi Rochyadi-Reetz menekankan pentingnya kepuasan pembaca (Rochyadi-Reetz et al, 2020). Penelitian Suryani (2018) menyampaikan pentingnya menjaga kesetiaan pembaca dalam kehidupan media massa.…”