Online Trusts; How Media Shaping Student Trust Towards Vaccination News

Abstract

Indonesian government carries out vaccination program as part of the COVID-19 response. This study aimed to determine student responses to the news of COVID-19 vaccination through online media in August 2021. The media plays an essential role in understanding the importance of vaccines for the community. COVID-19 cases in Indonesia; simultaneously, the government pushed for a vaccination program. This study uses a stimulus-organism-response approach, the SOR approach, that looks at the individual’s (organism) perception of the message (stimulus) received. The SOR theory looks at the individual’s perception of policies through online media; the elements in SOR analysis look at the stimulus through student responses. The study uses descriptive quantitative methods to describe student responses through purposive sampling. The finding of this study show three categories of aspects; appropriate sources, covering both sides, and verification steps. According to this study, students rate vaccination news differently in three categories: first, aspects of appropriate types of media with assessment (32%), second, cover both sides with assessment (33%), and third, verification with assessment (35%) as a result of news broadcast on online news, pupils can get vaccination programs developed by the government to combat COVID-19. This acceptability is shown by a change in the attitude of the respondents, from being confident to being more confident about carrying out the Covid-19 vaccination. This study classifies the role of online media in shaping students’ impressions of government policies and initiatives during the COVID-19 time.