הניצחון הגדול של "המסך הקטן": הטלוויזיה כמקור המידע העיקרי של הציבור בישראל בימי הקורונה

The question of the future of mass media currently occupies many researchers in light of the development of “new media” and social networks, which some see have the potential to end the role of the “traditional” mass media. The issue is gaining importance in light of the role of mass media in times of crisis and in crisis management.This article deals with the use of various media platforms—old and new—after the outbreak of the first wave of the corona epidemic during January–March 2020. It is presented as a case study, enabling us to determine how the Israeli public consumed information in times of crisis, and which media they preferred.Data were collected by means of four online surveys conducted during the first wave of the epidemic among Israeli-Jewish citizens aged 18 and over. The data were consolidated into a file containing 3,015 records, constituting a representative sample of the population.The need for information at the beginning of the epidemic was found to be very high, the most prominent expression being the use by most respondents of several channels of information about the new virus (average of 3.5 sources of information per respondent). A somewhat surprising finding was that television was the most common source f information (76%). Online news sites (mostly produced by large and “old” media organizations) were mentioned by 68% of respondents and were the second most common source of information. It can be assumed that there was an overlap in exposure to information between online news sites and other sources. Additional sources of information—traditional and new media, official and unofficial—had a significant presence as information providers. Age and degree of religiosity were the most explanatory variables for the use of different sources of information. It was also found that gender and education level were significant in explaining information consumption.A key conclusion of the study is that large and institutionalized means of mass media have not yet lost their primacy as information providers, especially in times of crisis, but this determination must be cautious, given increasing competition for the eyes and ears of the public and the establishment of social networks as complementary or alternative sources of information