COVID-19-Impfung, ORF und Servus TV. Zur Korrespondenzbeziehung zwischen der Rezeption von Nachrichten-Kommentaren und der Impfbereitschaft

Abstract

COVID-19 poses a global health threat. By now, multiple vaccines are available, aiming to overcome the pandemic. Since vaccinations are not mandatory in Austria, citizens’ vaccination intention is of utmost importance. In accordance with the model of informed shared decision making, citizens should decide for themselves whether or not they want to get vaccinated. The media play a pivotal role in this regard. Austria’s media landscape tends to be rather polarized. Commentaries on different TV stations aiming at providing a broader context for current events have been accused of strongly diverging presentations of the topic of vaccination. For instance, Ferdinand Wegscheider (Servus TV) allegedly took a skeptical or even hostile perspective towards vaccination and overemphasized side effects. Conversely, Günther Mayr (ORF) was accused of glorifying vaccination from his perspective and of downplaying or even withholding information about adverse side effects. The present survey (N = 843) investigated the correlation between amount of news commentary use and vaccination intention. Our findings show a significant correlation: The more often recipients watched Wegscheider, the lower their vaccination intention. Frequently watching Mayr’s commentary, however, was related to a higher vaccination intent. Implications are discussed.