Dr. Janet Yang Research on COVID-19 featured in UBNow

Published March 11, 2020

In an article recently published for UBNow about communication related to COVID-19, UB Associate Professor Janet Yang, PhD, spoke about the mass confusion and misinformation that is permeating the general public.

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Janet Yang, a UB health communication expert who also serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, was recently quoted in an article regarding COVID-19 for UBNow. The report urges health experts and governmental agencies to keep COVID-19 communication clear and straightforward for ordinary citizens to understand. "Experts and government agencies need to keep the public informed on the development of coronavirus in the United States to maintain trust," says Yang when asked to offer professionals a few guidelines for getting out the right message about the outbreak.

This idea of building trust through transparency is Dr. Yang's response to the intentional cover-ups in China that occurred with the initial disease outbreak. Dr. Yang follows up by providing other helpful suggestions like, "provide consistent and timely updates", "educate and take countermeasures", along with mentioning how social media can be a powerful tool in debunking rumors about the virus. The article is timely as it comes just a month after the Erie County Department of Health released a statement in the form of a tweet in response to COVID-19 related rumors circulating social media.

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