Parents Information Perspective Regarding COVID-19 Vaccine

Parents Information Perspective Regarding COVID-19 Vaccine
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Parents Information Perspective Regarding COVID-19 Vaccine
Introduction
Since the first case of COVID-19, the world has faced several changes. Specifically, schools closed, businesses collapsed, companies were shut down, countries and states were locked down, hotels and bars were closed, and so on (Zhong & Chin, 2021). For this reason, the need to find a permanent solution was more urgent. Different medical researchers have been seeking a solution to curb the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the invention of advanced patient treatment and prevention from the disease has become the norm in medical organizations. Among the solutions, vaccination seems to be the best of them all. The reduction of numbers of patients tasting positive since its introduction has been encouraging.
A study about the COVID-19 vaccines proves that since introducing several vaccination options for the deadly virus among adults, the number of grown-up people testing positive has significantly decreased by up to 60%. Also, vaccinations have reduced the intensity of the illness; thus, deaths among the already infected are low. Global organizations have developed an interest in children's vaccination options (Buonsenso et al., 2020). For example, recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have conducted statistical research showing children aged between 5 to 11 years have a higher COVID-19 prevalence compared to adults. Therefore, vaccination can be the best solution to reduce the risks associated with COVID-19 among youngsters (Weintraub, 2021). The entire process's success largely depends on the parent's belief regarding the vaccination. For this reason, the media plays a vital role in ensuring parents get legitimate information about the vaccination. Kent (2014) says that avoiding misinformation requires parents to be aware of the gatekeeping theory to ensure they can sieve the false news and partake from the relevant information. Achievement of excellent results requires parents to know valid information concerning the vaccines. The government and concerned organizations have the task of guaranteeing the parents that the children will benefit more from the shot. Also, they should be aware of the myths about immunization to avoid fear.
In the 21st Century, social media takes a higher percentage of informing and misinforming people. Its freedom of information upload and access gives malicious people a platform to spread unreliable and misleading news (Welbers& Opgnhaffen, 2019). To make money, bloggers thrive on creating appealing information to capture more readers without caring about its truth. Bloggers and malicious study human curiosity and use it to bet that they will have more readers and viewers with fake catch news than accurate boring news (Altheide, 2017). Therefore, social media users need to be extra careful about whatever they read or watch on social platforms. Regarding children's vaccination, parents must be aware of the illegitimate information on the internet. They must be careful to refrain from making an unfavorable decision on their children's health.
Three significant media theories control the information legitimacy in media, namely, the gatekeeper theory, the media dependency theory, and the media logic. The case study will concentrate on the gatekeeper theory to guarantee that caregivers and parents can separate the legitimate news and the fault information about the COVID-19 vaccine for their children. Also, it will subdivide the work into different sections to ensure an easy understanding. The study will have an introduction that gives a summary of the work. Additionally, it will have a literature review that discusses other research on the same case study and media theories. The methodology is the other section that explains how the decisions were made on the survey. Additionally, the research will perform a media review on other news concerning COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 5-11. The main sources of the news will be from social media and other online tools, including online news cites articles and blogs. Finally, it will have the recommendation and conclusion sections which will summarize the whole work recommending the best media solution that will guarantee readers get relevant news.
Literature Review
Literature on Gatekeeping
The gatekeeping theory encompasses carefully choosing information, allowing the media owners to reach the viewers and the readers. The process concentrates on information selection to sieve whatever is unimportant and allow only relevant news to pass the composers to the viewers. A good journalist must be skillful enough to separate whatever is not needed without tampering with the originality of the news (Deluliis, 2015). The choosing process must be user-centered and not focus on the writer's interests. The authors must avoid emotional involvement in news creation to guarantee whatever they publish to the user is not what they believe but the original truth. The decision of what to do with the information must be left entirely to the readers. However, Deluliis (2015) says that communication gatekeeping is slowly losing its meaning because of the freedom of the World Wide Web (WWW) that allows raw information to be published with unqualified people, ruining the news's integrity. The traditional gatekeeping theory, by Kurt Lewis, is no longer as reliable as it previously was. The freedom to pass the unfiltered information to the users directly has reduced its value. Hence, the readers have the role of deciding what to believe and what to assume. Additionally, the web gives the users the power to create and destroy news without considering the news values and norms. Because of this, gatekeeping is vital in protecting gated traditions and ensures a steady flow of relevant and reliable information.
Burcky's (2019) study unveils that the most considered audience in selecting, distributing, contextualizing, and authenticating digital news. The newsmaker must be keen enough to ensure their readers get legitimate and reliable information. They must compose what is beneficial to the readers and not just concentrate on the money they will earn from the news. Also, journalists are responsible for redefining their gatekeeping and newsgathering techniques into a user-friendly format to cope with the audience and the new digital systems. Finally, the media must concentrate on the audience's reasoning, attitude, and source of fake news to ensure the information favors the reader's desires. Good news relies on its reliability and authenticity to qualify to be attractive to the reader.
The lack of civility instead of observation of deliberative norms in news comments, particularly towards personal opinions and comments, has defiled the purity in the traditional news. Muddiman and Stroud (2017) say that the ignorance level of media traditions can lead to various negative results, including the creation of negative attitudes toward political news and people's opinion. To solve the problem, some media platforms like USA TODAY have removed the comment section to avoid destroying the information they present to the users. The move has made them one of the most preferred online news channels. Because of this, parents can trust such platforms in deciding on the vaccination of their children. The elimination of cognitive biases will help them make a good decision according to their own beliefs and not from other readers' comments. Moreover, it gives the cognitive biases power to the reader because each individual perceives information differently. The USA TODAY news has passed gatekeeping and is suitable for media dependency.
Dangers of COVID-19 to Children
Kamidani et al. (2021) confirm that children manifest severe acute respiratory syndromes whenever they test positive for COVID-19, just like adults. The writers seek to carry the burden of children under the age of 12 that do not have vaccination options for the deadly disease. They claim that medical researchers should start the vaccination testing on children to instill confidence in the development and licensing of pediatric COVID-19 vaccines. Also, they say that children are supposed to benefit both directly and indirectly from the vaccination. Children are vulnerable to the downstream that lead to infection including, educational interruption and social isolation. For this reason, the vaccine will allow youngsters to re-engage in the world without the fear of risking their lives. The research explains the importance of vaccinating children, saying it is the route towards returning the world to normal.
Literature Reviewing the Impact of Wrong Information about COVID-19 Vaccine on Parents
Ball-Rokeach's (2010) article unfolds the assumption and concept of media system dependency. The writer says that the media affects flows from the media information resources in people's daily life requirements. Each person has the power of deciding on what to believe and what not to trust in the media. Each person's upbringing promotes the way they think and their personal beliefs. Also, he says that the media systems mainly depend on the inclusivity and scarcity of the source. Gathering and creating information depends on the journalist's ability to analyze the behavior keenly to develop a r...