Cable News and COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake

Since its introduction in late 2020, the COVID-19 vaccine has stepped up the fight against the disease, significantly reducing the likelihood of infection and especially severe cases.^1,2,3,FourGiven the proven efficacy and ongoing societal costs of infection, persistent resistance to vaccination raises pressing policy questions. Correspondingly, understanding the determinants of decisions to adhere to or refuse vaccines poses an urgent scientific question.

There is a small and timely literature that provides some early findings on this issue.Exposure to online misinformation is associated with reduced willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine^Five,6Individuals opposed to vaccines are less likely to obtain information about the pandemic from traditional and trusted sources⁷.

We add to this research by investigating the role of cable news, a leading class of US television stations, in vaccine decisions. Previous research has shown that conservative media consumption is associated with reduced social distancing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.^8,9,Ten And Worse COVID-19 Health Outcomes¹¹These articles on COVID-19 are part of a broader body of literature on the influence of media on individual preferences and behavior.¹²political elections^13,14,15,16Local Fiscal Policy¹⁷Because cable news providers differ in their skepticism about COVID-19 vaccination, differences in exposure to programs may influence reported vaccine hesitation and observed vaccine uptake. Fox News Channel, for example, was skeptical of the scientific consensus and the views of the majority of experts.^18,19,20Especially Fox News Channel’s primetime show Tucker Carlson, one of FNC’s most popular primetime shows.^{twenty one,twenty two}takes a strong stance on vaccines and claims post-vaccination deaths are due to it, contradicting the available evidence.^{twenty one,twenty two}.

Our empirical approach combines data on county-level vaccination rates with data on viewership from major cable news providers Fox News Channel (FNC), MSNBC, and CNN. As these are administrative rather than survey data, they are not biased by selective reporting.

In the early months of an immunization campaign, there is no relationship between cable channel viewership and vaccine uptake. However, in recent months since May 2021, Fox News viewership has been negatively related to vaccination. The relationship between the other cable news networks MSNBC and CNN remains unchanged.

The relationship between FNC viewership and reduced vaccination coverage can be shown to be causal using natural experiments.A network’s channel’s position in the lineup provides a means of exogenous to the viewer, as is widely used in economics and political science^{Ten,13,16,17,twenty three}We utilize exogenous variability in viewership to estimate local mean treatment effects and find qualitatively consistent results. The position of the channel makes him exogenously high in FNC’s viewership, which lowers the vaccination rate.

The rest of this paper provides many supporting results for understanding the most relevant mechanisms. Overall, the results show that the FNC has propagated a uniquely skeptical narrative about vaccines, one that downplays the usefulness of vaccines and fosters uncertainty about their safety, contrary to available scientific consensus. I support this interpretation. The story spread among marginal vaccinated people to reduce their intake.

First, we examine the effect of cable news ratings on national survey responses. The survey asked respondents if they were hesitant to get the vaccine. Regions with high FNC viewership were reported to be more hesitant to get vaccinated. Therefore, it can support a behavioral mechanism whereby FNC vaccine skeptical narratives influence vaccination coverage by changing attitudes and intentions about vaccines.

Second, we consider whether local medical capacity is driving our results. If so, we should see an effect of Fox News on vaccination uptake not only in the early stages of the vaccination campaign, but also in the late stages. Only individuals with less than 100,000 are affected. Additionally, confirm that FNC does not impact local healthcare capacity indicators (number of ICU beds/hospitals) or stress indicators (number of COVID-19 infections/deaths).

After ruling out medical proficiency as a potential confounder, it can be inferred from the above that the impact of Fox News on vaccine uptake is concentrated in relatively low-risk individuals (age < 65). .

Third, we see partisan affiliations and political ideologies as vehicles for differing beliefs and attitudes about vaccines. Republicans or Conservatives are overall more skeptical of COVID-19 vaccines, and the FNC effect may work by increasing the number of Republicans or Conservatives. We show that this is unlikely to be the case, as the effect of FNC on vaccine uptake is retained even when controlling for social affiliation and political ideology.

Finally, we consider whether the FNC has influenced public attitudes toward vaccines, for example through anti-science rhetoric. To confirm this, we examine the impact on seasonal influenza vaccines. No effect, no general anti-vaccine effect, suggesting that the effect on the COVID-19 vaccine is due to a COVID-specific narrative.

Throughout this paper, we address several caveats to our analysis: The follower, the general TV surfer on which our instrumental variable analysis is based, may differ from the general population. . Furthermore, our study found that (1) vaccination began to become widely available and (2) vaccination certificates did not play a major role (e.g., eating indoors) in the United States vaccination campaign. is limited to the early stages of

The findings of this paper provide timely insight into the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. Major cable news TV providers influence vaccination decisions. Future efforts by government and health agencies to promote vaccine uptake should explain how media narratives strengthen or undermine those efforts.

Cable news ratings and weekly vaccination rates, 2021. A coefficient plot with 95% CI from the OLS regression examines the association with one standard deviation of change in viewership in weekly vaccination per 100 people. Regression includes controls for demographics and cable systems. Standard errors are summarized by state.