Main description:

This volume investigates mediated lives and media narratives during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Asia as a focus point. It shows how the pandemic has created an unprecedented situation in this globalized world marked by many disruptions in the social, economic, political and cultural lives of individuals and communities - creating a 'new normal'. It explores the different media vocabularies of fear, panic, social distancing, and contagion from across Asian nations. It focuses on the role media played as most nations faced lockdowns and unique challenges during this crisis. From healthcare workers to sex workers, from racism to nationalism, from the plight of migrant workers in news reporting to state propaganda, this book brings critical questions confronting media professionals into focus.

The volume will be of critical interest to scholars and researchers of media and communication studies, politics, especially political communication, social and public policy, and Asian studies.

Contents:

Introduction I. Missing and Marginalized Narratives 1. Unrest in the Comments: Voicing the Discontent of Japan's Foreign Residents in the Comments Sections of Japan Today 2. Gender, Media and the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Investigation into Missing Gendered Narratives in Indian News Media 3. The Mask Dilemma: Hierarchy between Two Know-Hows in Chinese-Language Media of Canada 4. Missing Media Narratives: COVID's Impact on Transgender Population in India II. Media Memory and Narratives 5. Masked Presence: COVID-19 and Remembering SARS in Taiwan 6. Familial Halcyon: Narratives of Nostalgia in the Lockdown III. Media Bias and Propaganda 7. Taiwan Can Help: COVID-19, The Model Minority State and the Limits of Taiwan-as-Beacon Rhetoric 8. The Myths of Hate: Digital Deception in the (Communal) times of COVID-19 9. Risk Communication versus Risks in Communication: Efforts of Vietnam Government in Controlling Messages during COVID-19 Pandemic 10. Modern Hua Mulans in Global Chinese-Speaking Media: Female Frontline Workers as Tools of Propaganda During the COVID-19 Pandemic IV. Mainstream and Alternative Narratives 11. Confronting Anti-Asian Bias in the Classroom: Reflections on the Importance of Asian and Asian American Studies in the Wake of COVID-19 12. From A Story of Disaster to A Story of Victory: Chinese Media Reports in the COVID-19 Crisis 13. The COVID-19 Pandemic: News Reporting in Malaysia V. Narratives of Othering 14. Viral Vilification 15. Pandemics, Politics and Religious 'Others': Exploring Media Narratives during COVID-19 in India and Pakistan VI. Social Media Narratives 16. Social Media and Vietnamese Undocumented Workers in Thailand During the COVID-19 Pandemic 17. Representations of COVID-19 in West Asia: A Case study of Islamic Republic News Agency's (IRNA) Instagram account 18. Don't Panic! Reach Us: Indian Tech Unions' Social Media Narratives during the Pandemic