The Role of Traditional Media in Preventing Misinformation About COVID-19: A Literature Review

Abstract

Traditional media are increasingly marginalized by ‘the new media’ or ‘social media’, which are declared as advanced media. Behind this progress, many studies state that online media causes a lot of misinformation in the community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people continue to look for sources of information from trusted media, between both media to be used as a reliable reference. This article's objective is to promote public understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic by describing how traditional media played a crucial role in disseminating accurate information and combating rapidly spreading misinformation. The study was a literature study using PRISMA guidelines. Relevant articles included in the analysis were obtained from several scientific databases such as PubMed, SAGE, Science Direct, and PLOS One (published between 2020 and 2021), by using the relevant keywords “traditional media”, “misinformation”, “COVID-19”, then determined by criteria feasibility: (1) scientific journals, (2) research objectives, (3) open access, and (4) research results that are clear and in accordance with research objectives. We come to the conclusion that the majority of the public are understanding of and have a high level of trust in traditional media as a source of credible information during the COVID-19 pandemic and as a guide for preventing the spread of misinformation.