Viral panic and contagious fear in scary times: The proliferation of COVID-19 misinformation and fake news

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to synthesize and analyze existing evidence on the proliferation of COVID-19 misinformation and fake news. Using and replicating data from Gallup, Knight Foundation, Ofcom, Pew Research Center, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, and University of Canberra, we performed analyses and made estimates regarding constant exposure to mainstream journalism and social media coverage of COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.