COM Research Seminar: The Impact of Expert Opinions in COVID-19 News Coverage on Vaccination during the Fifth Outbreak in Hong Kong: A Time Series Analysis by Prof Crystal JIANG and Miss Yiqian GAO

19 Feb 2024 (Mon)

On February 19, 2024, Professor Crystal Jiang, an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at the City University of Hong Kong, and her Ph.D. student, Miss Yigian Gao, conducted a seminar titled "The Impact of Expert Opinions in COVID-19 News Coverage on Vaccination during the Fifth Outbreak in Hong Kong: A Time Series Analysis." The seminar explored their latest study, which examined the influence of expert opinions on the public's vaccination behavior during the fifth COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong. Prof. Jiang and Miss Gao analyzed a dataset comprising 1,416 news articles and 2,066 expert opinions, linking these findings with vaccination rates over the same period. Their research used Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models and Granger causality analysis to assess the effects of framing consistency – the alignment of expert opinions with government policies and among experts themselves – over time. The results indicated that when expert opinions in the news were aligned with government vaccination policies, the public's vaccination rates increased. Conversely, when these opinions were conflicted with government policies, there was no significant impact. The seminar attracted approximately 20 individuals, including faculty members, Ph.D. students, and scholars from various disciplines.