[PDI Working Paper No.11] COVID-19 and Global Governance in the Media

Gyu Jeong Lee (Senior Researcher Peace & Democracy Institute, Korea University)

Abstract:

This study critically reviewed the reporting behavior of Korean media on COVID-19 and reviewed the influence of the domestic level on global governance construction. Reports related to COVID-19 have been mass-produced in a variety of ways in almost all media outlets, but rather, excessive flooding of information has limited the information needed to provide recipients, and there is also a problem of failing to provide a productive forum for global governance. The results of the analysis of the three dimensions of reporting behavior related to the establishment of global governance can be summarized as follows. First, the controversy over the name in the naming process of COVID-19 has produced unproductive debates that are far from international norms. It caused unnecessary controversy without following the guidelines for the naming of new infectious diseases presented by the WHO, a representative international organization for responding to various diseases and infectious diseases. The name, including the regional name “Wuhan”, caused phobia to a specific country and caused difficulties in exchanging and cooperating information between countries.  Second, some reports on the process of securing masks distorted cooperation and exchanges between countries on COVID-19. Before the development of the vaccine, wearing a mask became the most effective alternative to prevent COVID-19, and the demand for masks also temporarily soared due to the spread of COVID-19. In this process, mutual support for masks between Korea and China became the beginning of international cooperation, but unconfirmed quality disputes negatively affected exchange cooperation. Finally, reports on the introduction and vaccination of vaccines also showed a lot of horse racing reports on the status of vaccinations by country and side effects of vaccines. Horse racing reports added to the vicious cycle of the re-proliferation of mutant viruses as COVID-19 vaccines were distributed mainly in advanced countries, and unverified reports of side effects of vaccines caused problems of lowering vaccination rates.

As discussed above, reports related to COVID-19 in Korean media showed a somewhat different pattern from the classical liberal international political theory that international norms can be formed through appeals to international public opinion. A more detailed analysis is needed on the causes of Korea’s media showing different aspects from the role assumed in liberal international political theory. This study did not proceed to analyze the cause of the formation of COVID-19 reporting behavior of Korean media, but it was intended to provide a problematic awareness of the role of media necessary in establishing global governance to end COVID-19.