An Analysis of COVID-19 – Related Fake News from Romania. A Pilot Qualitative Study Ioana PALADE, Delia Cristina BALABAN Abstract: At the beginning of the novel coronavirus another phenomenon was observed: the dissemination of false information on a large scale. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the coronavirus pandemic is not the only threat that the world is facing, but there is also an infodemic that needs to be controlled. For example, false articles claiming that SARS-CoV-2 was man-made or that the EU is going to be eradicated are invading the health sector. This pilot study aims to analyze several COVID-19 related fake news disseminated in Romania that was identified as fake by traditional media outlets. A content analysis of N=22 COVID-19 related fake news was conducted using a coding scheme adapted from Keselman et.al. (2019). The articles were written in a colloquial language, and the majority of them included criticism towards the government and their measures against the pandemic. Some of the distinguished features of fake news according to previous literature in the field were identified in the examples that we chose. Keywords: Fake news; COVID-19; eHealth literacy; Infodemia; Misinformation DOI: 10.24193/jmr.37.2 |
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