Rethinking Media and Communication in the COVID-19 Context

Abstract

This chapter critically examines people’s communication inequalities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the role that media and digital technologies might play in recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the lack of access to digital and media technologies often faced by the socio-economically disadvantaged groups at greater risk of health problems from COVID-19. Media paywalls, for instance, exclude poorer communities from getting the most accurate health-related news and information, potentially making them more susceptible to misinformation and exacerbating their vulnerability in a health crisis. Contact tracing apps deployed by health agencies do not work for those who cannot afford or use a smartphone, while health information distributed through digital portals does not reach those who are digitally excluded. Given these challenges are likely to become more pronounced as the pandemic continues, it is vital that barriers to digital and media technologies are urgently addressed. Social protection and health responses also need to better account for the distinctive ways in which information is shared and understood, especially in culturally diverse communities, to better target public health and safety information to the disadvantaged communities that need it. Developing ways for government agencies to better engage with, and between, diverse communities (particularly for marginalised and disadvantaged groups) should be a communication priority in the COVID-19 response and recovery, yet the communication networks of ethnic minorities, such as Pacific peoples, have not been well accounted for in some of the New Zealand government’s COVID-19 interventions. Health systems alone cannot protect people’s health and wellbeing in the face of COVID-19; what is also needed are multi-level policies aimed at addressing communication inequalities.