Covid-19 and the Power of Language: A Critical Qualitative Study of the Television News Media’s Discourse About Vaccine Hesitancy

Kimberly Nicole Alleyne

Advisor: Richard T Craig, PhD, Department of Communication

Committee Members: Timothy Gibson, Iccha Basnyat

Online Location, Online
June 30, 2025, 12:00 PM to 02:00 PM

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated longstanding health inequities in marginalized U.S. populations (Reyes, 2020; Ala et al., 2021). The historic health crisis spotlighted, for example, the inordinate number of COVID-19 deaths among Black Americans, who died at 2.5 times the rate of their white counterparts (COVID-19 Racial Data Tracker, March 2021). Simultaneously, the U.S. healthcare system came into sharp focus for its entrenched history of medical racism (Byrd & Clayton, 2001; Stafford, Morrison & Ma, 2023), perpetuates health disparities[1], and stymies health equity[2]. The system’s sprawling roots have a stronghold grip on the social structures that contribute to the structural violence that is the origin of healthcare disparities. What the pandemic did not magnify as lucidly, however, are the stealth and systemic imbalances of power—language, news media discourse, narrative—that affect health outcomes. In the context of low COVID-19 vaccination rates among Black Americans, as compared to their peers (Bogart, 2021; Andrasfay & Goldman, 2021), news media often labeled Black Americans as vaccine hesitant. Such coverage sometimes lacked historical or societal context for vaccine attitudes of hesitancy (Vasquez Reyes, 2020). This two-phase critical qualitative research examined television news media’s role in shaping vaccine hesitancy discourse and the influence of that discourse on Black Americans’ COVID-19 vaccine beliefs and behaviors. Vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans has been discussed (Quinn et al., 2017; Alleyne, 2012), as have news media effects on individuals’ health behavior (Walsh-Childers, 2012). However, there is a void of research on the relationship between the news media’s power, its production of discourse about Black Americans’ COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and the effects of that discourse on their vaccine attitude. Data revealed Black Americans’ media distrust and the media’s vaccine discourse did not affect their vaccine beliefs or behaviors.

Keywords:  COVID-19, pandemic, vaccine hesitancy, vaccination, critical discourse analysis, discourse, health disparities,
power, television news, narrative, Black Americans

 
[1] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define health disparities as, “preventable differences that populations experience in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities” (nd). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/health-equity/what-is/index.html#:~:text=Preventing%20Health%20Disparities,likely%20to%20experience%20health%20issues.
[2] The CDC defines health equity as a state where every individual has a “fair and just opportunity to reach their highest level of health” (nd). Retrieved from cdc.gov https://www.cdc.gov/health-equity/what-is/index.html#:~:text=Preventing%20Health%20Disparities,likely%20to%20experience%20health%20issues.