
Which News Sources Are Most Trusted During Public Health Crisis? A Secondary Analysis of News Source Patterns Using Latent Class Analysis During the Recent Pandemic
AmirMohammad Kiyani 1 ℗, Maysam Rezapour 2 ©, Zahra Pourmehdi Ganji 3, Aliasghar Abbasi 1
Abstract
Public health crisis, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, really highlighted the critical need for quick and credible access to news. Effective communication strategies can play a vital role in raising awareness, changing behaviors, and getting the public participation involved in crisis management. GIving the today's diversity and complex landscape of information sources— from traditional media to social networks—it's essential to understand how people consume news to optimize communication strategies. This study aims to identify news source usage patterns during the pandemic using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). This research is a secondary analysis of data from a project approved by Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences (Ethics Code: IR.MAZUMS.REC.1400.069). Data was collected online questionnaire via social media platforms from March to June 2021. The study population included 1000 adults aged 18 to 60 in cities across Mazandaran Province who participated in the study through non-random sampling. To determine the optimal number of latent classes, statistical fit indices such as AIC, BIC, aBIC, the LMR-LRT test, and entropy values were analyzed. The final model was selected based on a combination of statistical fit indices and theoretical considerations. Statistical Analyses was conducted by Mplus8.3. Models with 2 to 5 latent classes were examined. Given the better fit and interpretability, the three-class model was selected. In Pattern 1 (20.8%), the likelihood of simultaneously using social networks and radio/television for news was very high (0.8 and ≈1). In Pattern 2 (33.5%), only radio and television were the primary news sources (≈1), while the use of other sources was very low (0.1). Pattern 3 (45.6%) mainly relied on social networks (≈0.5), with other sources having less than a 0.2 probability of being consumed. The findings show that during public health crisis, the news sources used by the public can be categorized into three main patterns: mixed (radio/TV + social media), traditional media-centric (exclusive official media), and digital media-centric. The results emphasize that no single news source can meet the population's needs during health crisis. Therefore, communication policies must be multi-channel and tailored to diverse news consumption behaviors. Integrating traditional and digital media can boost the effectiveness of messages and enhance society's ability to cope with crisis.
Keywords: Public health crisis, news consumption, latent class analysis, media consumption