Covid

Student newspapers are integral to the free flow of ideas and information on college campuses. But with campus closures, business shutdowns and student enrollment declines during COVID-19, the independence of these publications is in question. University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) doctoral student Jessica Sparks, CNN Counsel…

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate—that was the question for many families early in the pandemic. With the COVID vaccine highly politicized and paired with preexisting vaccine hesitancy, researchers sought to understand the effect that family communication had on someone’s willingness to talk about the vaccine with family. After all,…

When the pandemic led to global lockdowns in early 2020, the U.S. government quickly reacted with health-related communications that were not accepted universally across the country. But this divide in compliance was not seen everywhere across the globe. Why? Cultures set expectations for adopting new behavior around that culture’s point…

The COVID-19 global pandemic has been referred to as “the loneliness epidemic.” At the height of quarantine and social distancing, loneliness and isolation permeated society. With limited human interaction, many people turned to voice assistants for connection.  According to a 2020 Adobe survey, 39% of voice assistant users began using…

This article originally appeared in The Conversation on Sept. 24, 2021.  The article was written by University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Center for Public Interest Communications Post-Doctoral Associate Jack Barry, Director Ann Christiano and Research Director Annie Neimand. Are workplace vaccine mandates prompting some employees to quit…

The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused anxiety and stress in most people, but college students specifically have had to learn to cope with uncertainty and upheaval from their normal routine. This emotional rollercoaster has caused an increase in general media consumption as those effected by the pandemic seek ways to…