THE LEBANESE HEALTH INSTITUTIONS AND GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE MEDIA OUTLETS REPORTED ON THE CORONA CRISIS ON THEIR FACEBOOK PAGES

Abstract

This study seeks to show the role of health institutions in the media, and the Lebanese governmental and private media as a model for Arab media, in dealing with health crises (Corona), and its readiness in facing these crises and fighting rumors that cause fear among members of society, in light of the spread of the epidemic through social media platforms with Low level of cultural awareness among users of modern media networks.

The study used the descriptive and analytical approach. In order to obtain the required results, a questionnaire was adopted as a tool to gather the needed data which included news and reports of a number of Lebanese health and media institutions on the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic. This  study reached many results, and the most important are presents bellow:

1. This study revealed a difference in the quantity and quality of news and reports dealt with by private media institutions with Covid-19 news and reports, as the "Lebanon 24" website was unique with a better level of coverage than government health and media institutions, with (1134) publications during the study period, which represents (62.3%). whereas, the number of publications of the three government institutions (Ministry of Health, Hariri Hospital, and the National Information Agency) (686), which represents (37.7%), from the total publications of the study period.
2. The government institutions under study dealt with the crisis positively at its beginning, and then it was marred by neglect, thus that some institutions did not offer any publication concerning the developments of the epidemic for many days.
3. Through comparison of publications on the pages of the three government institutions, the Ministry of Health ranked first in the total number of publications in government institutions.
4. The National Information Agency of Lebanon covered the crisis negatively and did not keep up with its coverage on holidays.

This study figure out many recommendations, and the most important are:

1. The Ministry of Information, through its website and pages on social media, should intensify the media coverage, advice and guidance for the Lebanese society more than it is, as it is the first government source in the media.

Hariri Hospital should intensify its indicative coverage and preventive instructions and reassure the community more than other institutions, as it is the largest hospital in terms of equipment and an isolation center.