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Research Article

The Relation between Media Consumption and

Misinformation at the Outset of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

in the US

A US national probability-based survey during the early days of the SARS-CoV-2 spread in the US showed

that, above and beyond respondents’ political party, mainstream broadcast media use (e.g., NBC News)

correlated with accurate information about the disease's lethality, and mainstream print media use (e.g.,

the New York Times) correlated with accurate beliefs about protection from infection. In addition,

conservative media use (e.g., Fox News) correlated with conspiracy theories including believing that some

in the CDC were exaggerating the seriousness of the virus to undermine the presidency of Donald Trump.

Five recommendations are made to improve public understanding of SARS-CoV-2.

Authors: Kathleen Hall Jamieson (1), Dolores Albarracin (2)

Affiliations: (1, 2) Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, (2) Department of Psychology and Gies

Business School, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

How to cite: Jamieson, Kathleen H., Albarracin, Dolores (2020). The Relation between Media Consumption and Misinformation

at the Outset of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in the US, The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review, Volume 1,

Special Issue on COVID-19 and Misinformation

Received: March 19, 2020 Accepted: April 16, 2020 Published: April 20, 2020

Research questions

• In early March 2020, how informed was the US public about ways in which one can protect

oneself from SARS-CoV-2 and of its relative lethality compared to the seasonal flu?

• Did party identification correlate with levels of information about the lethality of the virus?

• Does use of different types of media (e.g., mainstream, conservative, liberal; traditional or social

media) correlate with accurate or inaccurate information regarding SARS-CoV-2 prevention? For

example: Does use of any type of media correlate with information about lethality and

appropriate methods of prevention? Does the use of social media rather than either broadcast

or traditional print media covary with belief in misinformation and conspiracy theories regarding

SARS-CoV-2? Does use of social media or of conservative media correlate with increased belief

in conspiracy theories being trafficked in these venues?

A publication of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University's John F.

Kennedy School of Government.

The Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review

April 2020, Volume 1, Special Issue on COVID-19 and Misinformation

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Reprints and permissions: misinforeview@hks.harvard.edu

DOI: : https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-012

Website: misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu

Media Consumption and Misinformation at the Outset of SARS CoV-2 Pandemic in the US

Essay summary

With coverage of SARS-CoV-2 dominating discussions on air, in print, and online, between March 3 and

March 8, 2020 we fielded a US national probability phone survey of 1,008 respondents to (a) determine

the accuracy of the public’s understanding of the relative lethality of the seasonal flu and the

coronavirus and of the need to prevent SARS-CoV-2’s spread by hand washing and avoiding those

showing symptoms of respiratory illness, and (b) assess the association between use of various media

channels and accurate and inaccurate beliefs and conspiracy theories about SARS-CoV-2 while

controlling for potential differences between Republicans and Democrats, who have been reported to

differ in concern with SARS-CoV-2 (Gallup, 2020).

Implications

Public understanding of needed preventative measures and rejection of bogus ones is important because

SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious and potentially lethal (cdc.gov). Pollsters have identified partisan

differences in views on SARS-CoV-2. In particular, a number of March 2020 polls showed that Republicans

were less worried than were Democrats about exposure to the virus (Gallup 2020), less likely to consider

the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak a major health threat (Pew 2020), and more likely to approve of President

Donald Trump’s handling of the “coronavirus pandemic” (Marist, 2020). Like this work, our early March

data registered differences tied to partisanship in their concern about SARS-CoV-2, specifically that

Republicans were less knowledgeable about the relative lethality of SARS-CoV-2. In addition, our data

suggested an association between exposure to some kinds of media, conservative and social media in

particular, and being misinformed, associations that persist when partisanship is considered. Our data

warrant five recommendations.

The need for proactive communication about prevention

Because hand washing and social distancing can prevent the spread of respiratory viruses including the

flu, the finding that early in March, 87% believed that these practices were preventative signals a success

of public health messaging. However, the gaps in the public’s background knowledge that we identified

should alert public health officials to the ongoing need for effective communication of needed information

long before a crisis.

Several areas need attention. First, the finding that 21% thought that taking vitamin C probably or

definitely prevents infection and 26% were unsure of whether it would or not suggests unwarranted public

confidence in this supplement. As a Cochrane meta-analysis confirmed (Cochrane 2013), vitamin C

consumption does not even prevent the common cold “in the ordinary population,” contrary to what the

commonplace claim avers. Nor, despite the claims on social media sites, does it prevent Anthrax and crib

death (Kata 2010). Like those other false claims, the one asserting that taking vitamin C prevents one from

contracting SARS-CoV-2 was circulating on Facebook in January 2020 (BBC Monitoring & UGC

Newsgathering, 2020).

Find out what misinformation to debunk

Because debunking misinformation including conspiracy theories is difficult (Chan et al., 2017), and not

without potential unintended consequences (Nyhan et al., 2014), before deciding whether to debunk a

conspiracy theory or other misinformation, fact-checking organizations need to know that enough people

have embraced it to be worrisome. In the absence of such prevalence data, corrective efforts may do

more harm than good by inadvertently increasing awareness of the problematic claim. One possible

benchmark is to correct for beliefs considered salient in a population, which according to Ajzen and

Fishbein (1980) is at least 10% of a population.

Jamieson, Albarracin

The individual conspiracy theories we studied met or passed this threshold. Ten percent of our survey

respondents characterized as probably or definitely true the conspiracy theory that the US government

created the virus, a conclusion that calls into question the integrity of the US government at a time at

which public confidence is required to mount a national defense against a spreading menace. Among the

sources circulating this canard were high-level Chinese officials who claimed that it was the US military

that brought the virus to China (Reuters, 2020).

Nearly one in five of our respondents (19%) reported believing that some in the CDC are exaggerating

the seriousness of the virus to undermine the Trump presidency

. This assumption has the potential to

engender distrust in one of the two US government agencies tasked not only with protecting public health

but also with communicating accurate information about ways to protect oneself and others. On social

media, this theory was advanced under headlines such as “Coincidence? CDC Official Hitting the

Coronavirus Panic Switch is Rod Rosenstein’s Sister” (O’Hara, 2020). Rosenstein is a former deputy

attorney general who played a central role in the Mueller investigation of Russian interference in the 2016

US presidential election.

The notion that the virus was created by the Chinese as a bioweapon, which has the potential to fuel

xenophobia and racism, was rated “probably true” or “definitely true” by 23% of our survey respondents.

This theory was floated by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Fox News in mid-February, endorsed by Steve

Bannon, former advisor to President Donald Trump (Stevenson, 2020), peddled in the conservative

Washington Times (Gertz, 2020), and touted by conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh who said, “It

probably is a ChiCom laboratory experiment that is in the process of being weaponized” (Limbaugh, 2020).

Our data suggest that it makes more sense for fact-checkers to take on the CDC and Chinese bioweapon

claims than the one alleging that the virus was created by the US.

A baseline for monitoring social media interventions

By offering an early window on the level of public information and belief in conspiracy theories about

SARS-CoV-2, this study provides a baseline that one can use to assess the success of the social media

platforms’ efforts to blunt misinformation. As this study was fielding on March 3rd, Facebook’s CEO Mark

Zuckerberg announced that “Facebook was removing false claims and conspiracy theories flagged by

global health organizations and the company is blocking people from running ads that try to exploit the

fears of the public by pitching snake oil cures” (Techcrunch, 2020). Moreover, Twitter, YouTube, and

Facebook now direct those searching for “coronavirus” to sources such as the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention (CDC). Twitter also initiated a campaign called #KnowTheFacts (Brandon, 2020). Two of

the mistaken claims on which we focused have been interdicted by the platforms. Yet, before YouTube

removed a video asserting that the pandemic had been bioengineered, 570,000 subscribers to the website

SGT Report had potentially been exposed to it (Herrera, 2020). To the best of our knowledge, our study is

the first to assess public belief in the conspiracy theories and preventive effects of vitamin C that circulated

on social media.

Proposed interventions in conservative media

The data in this study should motivate public health officials to place public service announcements,

encourage hyperlinks to the CDC information pages, and seek interviews on outlets whose audiences are

less knowledgeable, more misinformed, or more accepting of conspiracy theories. This strategy was

exemplified by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who on

All statistics appear in Table 1, including means and standard deviations for these beliefs. However, given a

benchmark of 10% for beliefs to be salient in a population (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), the percent of people who

subscribe to misinformation is important.

Media Consumption and Misinformation at the Outset of SARS CoV-2 Pandemic in the US

March 11th on Fox News responded to Sean Hannity’s request to compare the seasonal flu to the

coronavirus by noting, “The mortality for seasonal flu is 0.1 [percent]” and the coronavirus is “10 times

more lethal than the seasonal flu. You gotta make sure that people understand that!” (Fox News, 2020).

Importantly, in that interview on Hannity’s top-rated Fox program, the host repeatedly vouched for Fauci’s

credibility.

Among the reasons that credible sources should place such information in conservative media venues

is that conservative talk radio listeners and Fox viewers tend to be older, and as such part of the group

most susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 complications (cdc.gov). Fauci’s statement directly rebutted a canard that

had been trafficked in conservative media where Rush Limbaugh said, “I’m dead right on this. The

coronavirus is the common cold, folks” (Limbaugh, February 24 2020), and that “The fatality rate of this

virus is less than the flu, far less than the flu. But look at how it’s been hyped” (Limbaugh, February 25,

2020). Furthermore, “medical contributor” Dr. Mark Siegel stated on Sean Hannity’s top-rated Fox

program, “the virus should be compared to the flu. Because at worst, at worst, worst case scenario it could

be the flu” (Fox News, March 6, 2020).

Newspapers: Take down paywalls on SARS-CoV-2 coverage

Our finding that reading mainstream print is associated with higher levels of knowledge should incentivize

newspapers to follow the lead of outlets such as the Washington Post and New York Times and eliminate

the paywall on their coronavirus coverage. Readers who appreciate this contribution to public health

might respond by subscribing or, in the case of the Guardian, which does not have a paywall, by donating

to that organization.

Findings

The last panel of Table 1 presents the means and standard deviations for exposure to different sources

of information. Table 2 presents the associations of respondents’ beliefs in the

information/misinformation of interest with media exposure. All associations stem from a multiple-

regression analysis with controls for political party, political ideology, education, gender, and age.

Figures 1-4 present significant regression lines corresponding to the significant media predictors in Table

2. All simple correlations appear in the Appendix and indicate relations among party, ideology,

demographic, and media predictors and hence the need to control for them through multiple

regressions.

Familiarity with SARS-CoV-2

Familiarity with the novel coronavirus was high. Ninety-six percent of the sample reported having heard

about it.

A. Level of Information: Low Levels of Information about Lethality and Prevention and High Levels of

Misinformation

• The public’s sense of the relative risks of death from the coronavirus as opposed to the flu was

wanting. Although 39% knew that a person with coronavirus was more likely to die as a result

than was a person who had contracted the seasonal flu, 38% thought that one disease was as

likely as the other to result in death, 13% considered the seasonal flu more deadly, and 8%

endorsed “it depends” (see Table 1).

• There were gaps in information about the need for hand washing and avoiding close contact

with those showing respiratory symptoms (the concept of social distancing was not yet

prevalent in the national dialogue), as well as misinformation that taking vitamin C is

preventative (see Table 1). Specifically, 13% believed that it was probably or definitely false or

Jamieson, Albarracin

were unsure whether hand washing and avoiding contact with symptomatic people prevent

infection. Moreover, 21% reported that it is definitely or probably true that taking vitamin C can

prevent a person from being infected with coronavirus (see Table 1). An additional twenty six

percent were unsure.

B. Partisanship: Democrats and Republicans Differed in Perceived SARS-CoV-2 Lethality

• Democrats were more likely than Republicans to know that the coronavirus is more lethal than

the flu (see Table 2).

• Republicans also were more likely to believe that the CDC was exaggerating the threat of the

coronavirus to hurt President Donald Trump (see Table 2).

C. Associations between Media Exposure and Information/Misinformation While Taking Ideology and

Party into Account

1C. Mainstream Broadcast and Print Media Exposure Correlates with More Information and Less

Misinformation Even after Taking Ideology and Party into Account

• Exposure to mainstream broadcast and cable correlated positively with reporting that the novel

coronavirus is more lethal than the flu (for a similar mainstream media effect, see Stecula, Kuru,

& Jamieson, 2020) (see Table 2 and Figure 1).

Figure 1. Association between Mainstream Broadcast Media Exposure and Perceived Lethality of SARS-CoV-2

• Exposure to mainstream print was positively associated with holding more accurate beliefs

about prevention of infection with SARS-CoV-2. Specifically, exposure to sources such as the

Associated Press, The New York Times, the Washington Post, or the Wall Street Journal was

positively associated with accurately believing that regular hand washing and avoiding

contact with symptomatic people prevent infection (see Table 2 and Figure 2).

Media Consumption and Misinformation at the Outset of SARS CoV-2 Pandemic in the US

Figure 2. Associations between Mainstream Print Media Exposure and Information/Misinformation

• Exposure to mainstream print was negatively associated with the beliefs that taking vitamin

C can prevent infection, some in the CDC were exaggerating the threat to harm Trump, and

the virus is a bioweapon created by the Chinese government (see Table 2 and Figure 2).

2C. Conservative Media Exposure Correlates with Higher Levels of Misinformation

• Use of conservative media (sources such as Fox News and Rush Limbaugh) correlated with

beliefs in the malign underlying motives of some at the CDC and the Chinese origin of the virus (see

Table 2 and Figure 3).

Figure 3. Associations between Conservative Print Media Exposure and Misinformation

Jamieson, Albarracin

• Furthermore, exposure to conservative media correlated with unwarranted confidence in

vitamin C consumption as a means of preventing infection by SARS-CoV-2 (see Table 2 and

Figure 3).

3C. Social Media Exposure Correlates with Lower Levels of Information and Higher Levels of

Misinformation

• Exposure to outlets such as the web aggregators Google News and Yahoo News correlated

with lower belief in the efficacy of regular hand washing and avoiding contact with

symptomatic individuals (see Table 2 and Figure 4).

Figure 4. Associations between Yahoo or Google News Aggregators or Social Media Exposure

and Information/Misinformation3.

• Exposure to sources such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube was positively correlated with

belief in the efficacy of vitamin C, the belief that the CDC was exaggerating the threat to

harm President Trump, and the belief that the virus was created by the US government (see

Table 2 and Figure 4).

Table 1. Information, Misinformation, and Media Use.

Items

Statistics

Frequency

Reports that the novel coronavirus is more lethal than the flu

390

Do you believe this is…?

Regular hand washing and avoiding people with symptoms

Definitely false

Probably false

Media Consumption and Misinformation at the Outset of SARS CoV-2 Pandemic in the US

Items

Statistics

Not sure

Probably true

364

Definitely true

512

Taking vitamin C

Definitely false

295

Probably false

235

Not sure

260

Probably true

194

Definitely true

The CDC exaggerate the danger posed by the virus to hurt Trump

Definitely false

370

Probably false

242

Not sure

201

Probably true

128

Definitely true

The U.S. government created the virus

Definitely false

547

Probably false

222

Not sure

134

Probably true

Definitely true

The Chinese government created the virus

Definitely false

260

Probably false

272

Not sure

247

Probably true

181

Definitely true

Do you believe this is…? (1: definitely false to 5: definitely true)

Regular hand washing and avoiding people with symptoms

4.30

0.92

Taking vitamin C

2.41

1.15

The CDC exaggerate the danger posed by the virus to hurt

Trump

2.27

1.24

The U.S. government created the virus

1.80

1.07

The Chinese government created the virus

2.49

1.19

How much information do you get from the following sources? (0: a bit to 5: a lot)

Mainstream Print Media (Associated Press, the New York

Times, the Washington Post, or the Wall Street Journal)

2.16

1.76

Conservative Media (Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Breitbart

News, One, America News, or The Drudge Report)

1.74

1.82

Mainstream Broadcast Media (ABC News, CBS News, or NBC

News)

2.72

1.72

Jamieson, Albarracin

Items

Statistics

Liberal Media (MSNBC, Bill Maher, or Huffington Post)

1.62

1.68

Online News Aggregators (Google News or Yahoo News)

1.90

1.72

Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube)

2.19

1.84

Results are weighted to approximate the US population.

Table 2. Predicting Beliefs from Sources of Information.

Corona is more lethal than

the flu

Beliefs

Predictors

Logistic

Regression

Linear

Regression

Regular hand

washing and

avoiding people

with symptoms

Taking vitamin

The CDC

exaggerate the

danger

The US

government

created the

virus

The Chinese

government

created the virus

Non-media variables

Political party

-0.20*

-0.10*

0.05

-0.08

0.15***

-0.02

0.05

Conservative political views

0.07

0.06

-0.02

-0.03

0.08*

-0.05

0.05

Education

0.02

0.03

0.12***

-0.10**

-0.11***

-0.13***

-0.10**

Age

-0.01

-0.03

0.01

-0.12**

-0.08*

0.04

Female sex

-0.47***

-0.10**

0.10**

-0.03

0.04

0.03

Media variables

Mainstream Print Media

(Associated Press, the New

York Times, the Washington

Post, or the Wall Street

Journal)

-0.03

-0.02

0.16***

-0.03

-0.09*

-0.18***

Conservative Media (Fox

News, Rush Limbaugh,

Breitbart News, One, America

News, or The Drudge Report)

-0.02

-0.01

-0.02

0.10**

0.21***

0.01

0.17***

Mainstream Broadcast Media

(ABC News, CBS News, or

NBC News)

0.10*

0.09**

0.01

0.06

-0.05

-0.07

-0.03

Liberal Media (MSNBC, Bill

Maher, or Huffington Post)

-0.06

-0.04

0.02

-0.04

0.02

-0.03

-0.10**

0.06

0.02

0.05

0.02

Jamieson, Albarracin

Corona is more lethal than

the flu

Beliefs

Predictors

Logistic

Regression

Linear

Regression

Regular hand

washing and

avoiding people

with symptoms

Taking vitamin

The CDC

exaggerate the

danger

The US

government

created the

virus

The Chinese

government

created the virus

Online News Aggregators

(Google News or Yahoo

News)

Social Media (Facebook,

Twitter, or YouTube)

0.03

0.04

0.03

-0.01

0.10**

0.11**

.08

0.02

.05

.18

.07

.14

953

950

949

947

948

953

Note. *: p < .05, **: p < .01. ***: p < .001. Political party and ideology are scored so that higher numbers represent more conservative

choices. Party: –1: democrat, 0: independent, 1: republican. Political ideology: 1(very liberal) to 5 (very conservative).

Responses as

to whether corona is more deadly than the flu resulted in a dichotomous variable: 1: chose that it is more deadly, 0: did not choose that

it is more deadly. Hence this variable was analyzed with both linear and logistic regressions. For the logistic regression, the Cox &

Snell R

is reported, along with unstandardized beta weights for the predictors. For linear regressions, coefficients for individual

variables are standardized. Results are weighted to approximate the US population.

Table 3. Description of the Sample

Frequency

Sex

Female

488

Male

520

Age

18-19

20-29

170

30-39

167

40-49

159

50-59

156

60-69

155

70-79

80+

Race/Ethnicity

White Non-Hispanic

625

Black Non-Hispanic

116

Asian

Native American/American

Indian/Alaskan Native

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander

White Hispanic

Black Hispanic

Unspecified Hispanic

Mixed

Refused

Education

Less than high school graduate

High school graduate

304

Some college or associate degree

276

College

232

Postgraduate

103

Political party

Republican

362

Independent

126

Democrat

520

Political views

Very conservative

143

Somewhat conservative

199

Moderate

342

Somewhat liberal

174

Very liberal

113

. Results are weighted to approximate the US population.

Methods

The survey was conducted for the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania via

telephone by Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS), an independent research company. Interviews were

conducted with a sample of 1,008 respondents between March 3 and March 8, 2020. Of the total sample, 701

participants were surveyed by cell phone, and the remaining via landlines. Although the majority of the

respondents answered in English, 35 participants completed the survey in Spanish. The margin of error for total

respondents is +/-3.57% at the 95% confidence level. Response rate was 3.5%. More information about SSRS can

be obtained by visiting www.ssrs.com.

Jamieson, Albarracin

The survey items were developed after extensive pretesting of both the media and the belief measures.

First, pilot data conducted during 2019 indicated that the grouping of conservative news outlets was relatively

homogeneous in capturing demographically similar audiences. These measures were formally validated by

Jamieson and Hilgard (2017). Second, an online pilot survey conducted by SSRS in February 2020 pilot tested

four of the belief measures (that hand washing and avoidance of contact with symptomatic others prevented

infection; that the virus was created by the Chinese government; that the virus was created by the US

government; and that vitamin C prevented infection), which correlated strongly with other conspiracy theories

(i.e., Agenda 21, the link between MMR and autism, and the belief that Obama was not born in the US). These

pilot data thus provided indication of the construct validity of our belief measures. In addition, the February

pilot data showed that the media measures predicted beliefs in theories described in conservative and social

media outlets.

The survey first asked whether the respondent had “read, heard, or seen anything about a virus called the

coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, first detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019,” with the options being

“Yes” or “No.” To assess information about the risk of coronavirus compared to the seasonal flu, we asked “If

someone gets the seasonal flu and another gets the coronavirus, which person do you think is more likely to die

from the disease?” Three response options were offered: “The person with seasonal flu”; “the person with

coronavirus”; “they are equally likely to die of the disease they have”; “it depends”; and “I don’t know.”

In addition, of interest to this study were five items assessing respondents’ beliefs that: (a) “the ways to

prevent infection with the coronavirus include regular hand washing and avoiding those showing symptoms of

respiratory illness”; (b) “taking vitamin C can prevent a person from being infected with the coronavirus”; (c)

“some in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also known as the CDC, are exaggerating the

danger posed by the coronavirus in order to damage the Trump presidency”; (d) “the U.S. government created

the coronavirus”; and (e) “the coronavirus was created by the Chinese government as a biological weapon.”

Participants were read a statement, after which the interviewer asked, “Do you believe this is…?”. Participants

received the following options: 1. “Definitely true,” 2. “Probably true,” 3. “Probably false,” 4. “Definitely false,”

8: “Not sure.” Refusals were coded as 9 and scores were reversed so that higher values indicate more

agreement: 1 indicated “definitely false” and 5 indicated “definitely true.” “Not Sure” (8) was recoded 3 to

reflect the middle point

We also measured sources of information. Specifically, on a scale from 0 (no information) to 5 (a lot of

information), participants were asked to report how much information they receive from sources such as: (a)

”Associated Press, The New York Times, the Washington Post, or the Wall Street Journal,” which we consider

mainstream print outlets; (b) “Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Breitbart News, One America News, or The Drudge

Report,” which were considered conservative outlets; (c) “MSNBC, Bill Maher, or Huffington Post,” which we

treat as liberal sources; (d) “ABC News, CBS News, or NBC News,” which were considered mainstream broadcast;

(e) “Google News or Yahoo News,” which were considered social media news aggregators; and (f) “Facebook,

Twitter, or YouTube,” which were considered social media sources.

Table 3 describes the sample, and shows not only that it is similar to the US population in sex, age, race,

ethnicity, and education, but also that it had similar percentages of self-reported conservatives, moderates, and

liberals.

Acknowledgements

5% of participants who chose “probably true” or “definitely true” in response to both the item stating that the

Chinese government created the virus and that the US government created the virus. As shown in the Appendix, the

correlation between these two beliefs was r = .33.

Media Consumption and Misinformation at the Outset of SARS CoV-2 Pandemic in the US

We wish to thank Kenneth Winneg for his role in superintending the fielding of this study, Matthew Zdun for

questions that led to the discovery of a recoding error, and Sally Chan for help with verification of analyses.

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Media Consumption and Misinformation at the Outset of SARS CoV-2 Pandemic in the US

Funding

The study was funded by the Science of Science Communication Endowment of the Annenberg Public

Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Some of the work was facilitated by NIH grants

R01AI147487, DP1DA048570, and R01MH114847.

Competing Interests

No conflicts of interest to report.

Ethics

The research protocol employed was approved as exempt research by the University of Pennsylvania

Institutional Review Board. For the data and code, see https://osf.io/cny76/

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,

which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original

author and source are properly credited.

This article was modified on April 28, 2020. The changes were due to an error in the recoding of

demographics which was detected by a reader. Most of the changes were small variations in tables

(e.g., regression coefficients, including the ones for education). A correlation between political party

and belief in vitamin C being preventative, which had a p < .05, became marginal, leading to the

exclusion of this bullet: “Additionally, Republicans were more likely to believe that the Chinese

government created the virus as a bioweapon (see Table 2).”

Jamieson, Albarracin

Appendix

Correlation Matrix

1. Corona more lethal

2. Hand washing and avoiding

-.076

3. Taking vitamin C

-.070

4. The CDC exaggerate

-.093

-.044

.120

5. US government

.027

-.205

.240

.175

6. Chinese government

.037

-.117

.162

.339

.331

7. Political party

-.063

-.009

-.071

.283

-.015

.190

8. Conservative political views

.064

.004

-.094

.081

.031

.070

.218

9. Education

.010

.049

.009

-.009

-.026

-.025

.013

.073

10. Age

-.036

.008

-.112

.018

-.144

.037

.129

.084

.052

11. Female sex

-.075

.016

.092

-.013

.031

.006

-.149

-.049

-.007

.041

12. Mainstream media

.007

.161

-.001

-.158

-.087

-.216

-.225

-.059

.070

-.106

.028

13. Conservative media

-.013

-.029

.062

.292

.01

.231

.352

.135

.054

.194

-.016

-.026

14. Mainstream broadcast

.05

.043

.041

-.102

-.091

-.087

-.196

-.137

.101

.198

.098

.312

.070

15. Liberal media

-.002

.058

.022

-.084

.018

-.090

-.239

-.036

.098

.034

.075

.474

.079

.395

16. Google or Yahoo News

.037

-.045

.102

.073

.111

.05

-.031

-.102

-.047

-.208

.013

.212

.124

.068

.246

17. Social media

.053

-.012

.102

.126

.152

.102

-.054

-.021

-.391

.082

.151

.079

-.026

.127

.483

p < .05. **: p <.01. For ease of comparability, reports that the novel coronavirus is more lethal than the flu, which is a dummy variable, was analyzed using Pearson correlations as well.

However,

like in Table 2, logistic regressions led to the same variables being statistically significant and the same pattern of findings. Results are weighted to approximate US population.

Media Consumption and Misinformation at the Outset of SARS CoV-2 Pandemic in the US

4/27/20 8:37:00 PM

coronovirusqn.doc

Job #T8809

March 3, 2020

CORONAVIRUS

RECORD ALL ROTATE VARIABLES

Now I have some questions for you for a

research study on issues related to

health on behalf of the […]. You

have been selected as part of a

cross-section of American adults. I

want to remind you that your

participation in this study is

completely voluntary and all

responses will remain confidential

in a password protected file in the

[…]. Your individual responses will

never be released as findings will

be reported in the aggregate. All

data we collect will be de-

identified, and could be stored and

distributed for future research. The

information that we gather may

help us to provide invaluable data

on a variety of health issues.

If there is a question you would rather not

answer, then we will move on.

(IF NECESSARY) If you have any questions

regarding this research or with regard to

your participation, you can contact [….]

CORO1. Have you read, heard, or seen

anything about a virus called

the coronavirus, also known as

COVID-19, first detected in

Wuhan (WOO-han) China in

December 2019?

1 Yes

2 No

8 (DO NOT READ) Don’t know

9 (DO NOT READ) Refused

I’m going to read you some statements. For

each one, please tell me if you believe it is

true, false or if you aren’t sure.

(ROTATE CORO2 AND CORO4)

COROQ2. The US government created

the coronavirus.

Do you believe this is (READ

LIST)?

(ROTATE 1-4/4-1 IN THE SAME ORDER

FOR ALL)

1 Definitely true

2 Probably true

3 Probably false

4 Definitely false

8 Or are you not sure

9 (DO NOT READ) Refused

Jamieson, Albarracin

CORO3. Taking vitamin C can prevent a

person from being infected

with the coronavirus.

Do you believe this is (READ

LIST)?

(ROTATE 1-4/4-1 IN THE SAME ORDER

FOR ALL)

1 Definitely true

2 Probably true

3 Probably false

4 Definitely false

8 Or are you not sure

9 (DO NOT READ) Refused

CORO4. The coronavirus was created

by the Chinese government as

a biological weapon.

Do you believe this is (READ

LIST)?

(ROTATE 1-4/4-1 IN THE SAME ORDER

FOR ALL)

1 Definitely true

2 Probably true

3 Probably false

4 Definitely false

8 Or are you not sure

9 (DO NOT READ) Refused

CORO5. The ways to prevent infection

with the coronavirus include

regular hand washing and

avoiding those showing

symptoms of respiratory (RES-

PER-ATORY) illness.

Do you believe this is (READ

LIST)?

(ROTATE 1-4/4-1 IN THE SAME ORDER

FOR ALL)

1 Definitely true

2 Probably true

3 Probably false

4 Definitely false

8 Or are you not sure

9 (DO NOT READ) Refused

CORO6. Some in the U.S. Centers for

Disease Control and

Prevention, also known as the

C-D-C, are exaggerating the

danger posed by the

coronavirus in order to

damage the Trump

presidency.

Do you believe this is (READ

LIST)?

(ROTATE 1-4/4-1 IN THE SAME ORDER

FOR ALL)

1 Definitely true

2 Probably true

3 Probably false

4 Definitely false

8 Or are you not sure

9 (DO NOT READ) Refused

Media Consumption and Misinformation at the Outset of SARS CoV-2 Pandemic in the US

CORO7. Some in the U.S. Centers for

Disease Control and

Prevention, also known as the

C-D-C, are exaggerating the

extent of the opioid (O-PEA-

OYD) epidemic and its

consequences in order to

further a political agenda.

Do you believe this is (READ

LIST)?

(ROTATE 1-4/4-1 IN THE SAME ORDER

FOR ALL)

1 Definitely true

2 Probably true

3 Probably false

4 Definitely false

8 Or are you not sure

9 (DO NOT READ) Refused

(ROTATE VERBAIGE IN PARENS)

CORO8. If one person gets the

(seasonal flu) and another gets

the (coronavirus), which

person do you think is more

likely to die from the disease:

(READ LIST)

(ROTATE IN SAME ORDER AS

QUESTION)

1 The person with seasonal flu

2 The person with coronavirus

3 or they are equally likely to die

of the disease they have

4 (DO NOT READ) Depends

8 (DO NOT READ) Don’t know

9 (DO NOT READ) Refused

Jamieson, Albarracin

CORO11. There are a number of threats

America faces today that might

affect the quality of our lives.

Please indicate how much you

agree with the following

statements that compare the

challenges of the coronavirus

the country faces now to that

of other risks the country faces

now. (INSERT ITEM). Do you:

(READ LIST)?

(SHOW FOR ITEMS B-D)

(INSERT ITEM). Do you: (READ

LIST)?

1 Strongly agree

2 Agree

3 Somewhat agree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Disagree

6 Strongly disagree

9 (DO NOT READ) Refused

(DO NOT ROTATE)

a. I feel the current coronavirus

epidemic poses a greater threat to

my future quality of life than does

the threat of immigration from

Mexico.

b. I feel the current coronavirus

epidemic poses a greater threat to

my future quality of life than does

the threat of large natural disasters.

c. I feel the current coronavirus

epidemic poses a greater threat to

my future quality of life than does

the threat of terrorism.

d. I feel the current coronavirus

epidemic poses a greater threat to

my future quality of life than does

the threat of global warming.

Media Consumption and Misinformation at the Outset of SARS CoV-2 Pandemic in the US

COR09 [PN: SHOW FOR FIRST ITEM

ONLY]: How much information

do you get from each of the

following sources?

[PN: SHOW FOR FIRST ITEM

ONLY]: Use a scale from 0 to

5, where 0 means you get “NO

information” from these

sources, and 5 means you get

“A LOT of information” from

these sources. Of course, you

can use any number between

0 and 5. How much

INFORMATION do you get

from (INSERT ITEM)?

[PN: SHOW FOR SECOND

ITEM ONLY]: How much

INFORMATION do you get

from (INSERT ITEM)? Use a

scale from 0 to 5, where 0

means you get “NO

information” from these

sources, and 5 means you get

“A LOT of information” from

these sources. Of course, you

can use any number between

0 and 5.

[PN: SHOW FOR THE

REMAINING ITEMS]: How

much INFORMATION do you

get from (INSERT ITEM)?

[PN: SHOW FOR THE

REMAINING ITEMS]: (IF

NECESSARY: Use a scale

from 0 to 5, where 0 means

you get “NO information” from

these sources, and 5 means

you get “A LOT of information”

from these sources. Of course,

you can use any number

between 0 and 5.)

0 0- No information

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5 – A lot of information

8 (DO NOT READ) Don’t know

9 (DO NOT READ) Refused

(SCRAMBLE ROTATE)

a. Sources such as Fox News, Rush

Limbaugh (Lim-BAH), Breitbart

(Bright – bart) News, One America

News or The Drudge Report

b. Sources such as MSNBC, Bill

Maher (MAR), or Huffington Post

c. Sources such as ABC News, CBS

News, or NBC News

d. Sources such as Google News or

Yahoo News

e. Sources such as Facebook,

Twitter, or YouTube

f. Sources such as Associated Press,

The New York Times, the

Washington Post, or the Wall

Street Journal