The COVID-19 pandemic received enormous media coverage from the very beginning when it was first noticed in Wahan, China in December 2019. The media system which was usually defined by existing state political system radically changed during the COVID-19 period due to the rise of digital media. A new media system emerged with robust communicative power. The paper used secondary data (document analysis) to descriptively analyzed issues that arose from media systems coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. These issues included emergence of a new media/medicine relations, the change in pattern of health news consumption and persistent public fear and panic. The paper recommended for a regulatory framework for telehealth service delivery, governments engagement of the public using social media platform and development of real-time alerts system for public health officials to respond quickly to misinformation during pandemics.
Media Systems and the Coverage of COVID-19 Pandemic: Assessment of Emerging Issues