And even a brief segment or article on local news can have a second life on social media platforms, where anti-vax groups and advocates of dubious Covid-19 treatments widely push their content.
Americans have a greater degree of trust in Covid-19 information from local outlets compared with news media in general, a 2020 Pew Research Study found. Photograph: Stephen Lovekin/REX/ShutterstockĪlthough local outlets lack the audience size of national broadcasters or newspapers, researchers say they can provide a veneer of legitimacy to fringe groups, amplifying their message. Protesters gather at an anti-vaccine mandate rally in Manhattan, New York, on 28 Oct, 2021. Prominent spreaders of medical disinformation, including Dr Joseph Mercola, who misinformation researchers have identified as one of the most prolific online promoters of anti-vaccine falsehoods, and members of the Children’s Defense Fund organization – anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr’s group – have appeared on local radio shows or published editorials in local newspapers promoting conspiracy theories about vaccine safety. Many anti-vaccine activists as well as doctors and groups promoting unproven Covid-19 treatments have turned to those same channels to spread their message. Since the start of the pandemic, local newspapers, broadcast television and radio stations across the United States have been among the most popular sources for information about Covid-19. Marble’s telehealth page itself links to anti-vaccine information and websites promoting unproven Covid-19 treatments such as the anti-parasite drug ivermectin. Also visible in a photo included in the clip was Dr Stella Immanuel, an AFD member who has claimed masks don’t help curb the spread of Covid-19 and repeatedly said some real world illnesses were caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches. What the report didn’t mention, however, is that Marble is a member of America’s Frontline Doctors, a rightwing political group that gained notoriety in summer 2020 after some of its members appeared in a viral video touting unproven Covid-19 treatments as miracle cures.ĪFD’s founder, Dr Simone Gold, has headlined anti-vaccine rallies and is facing charges for storming the Capitol during the 6 January riot. To the average viewer, the segment on the ABC affiliate, which is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, was a local news report touting a local service. Marble, the reporter said, had made it so “patients don’t have to pay a cent” for coronavirus treatment and believed his site could replace Obamacare. L ast November, the WEAR-TV news station in northern Florida aired a segment on Dr Benjamin Marble, a local doctor who created a free telehealth website offering consultations for Covid-19.
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