{"id":8165,"date":"2020-07-02T05:30:42","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T21:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/a-pandemic-has-reminded-us-of-the-importance-of-the-arts-entertainment-and-communications\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T10:13:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T02:13:26","slug":"a-pandemic-has-reminded-us-of-the-importance-of-the-arts-entertainment-and-communications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/a-pandemic-has-reminded-us-of-the-importance-of-the-arts-entertainment-and-communications\/","title":{"rendered":"A pandemic has reminded us of the importance of the arts, entertainment and communications"},"content":{"rendered":"

The arts are so deeply embedded in our everyday lives that we might sometimes take them for granted, but in the depths of COVID-19 restrictions, we were reminded of the importance of the media, entertainment and communications.<\/p>\n

When the world ground to a halt in March, we turned to news media to keep us informed, social media to keep us connected, Netflix to keep us entertained and archivists to help preserve a valuable record of history as it unfolds.<\/p>\n

The arts keep us informed: a news media resurgence<\/h2>\n

When the World Health Organization declared an outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, the world\u2019s journalists and media professionals hit the ground running reporting COVID-19-related issues and impacts.<\/p>\n

The result was a dramatic increase in the consumption of news media.<\/p>\n

ABC North America correspondent and Curtin journalism graduate Kathryn Diss says Australians have always turned to the ABC in times of crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith COVID, the rolling coverage blog got enormous readership on a daily basis, which then tapped into other stories on our page. We\u2019ve definitely gained a new audience off the back end of COVID reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Importantly, increased news consumption coincided with a dramatic increase in trust in public broadcasters like the ABC and SBS. Recent research<\/a> found that Australians\u2019 trust in quality journalism went up by 29 per cent.<\/p>\n

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Did you know?<\/h3>\n

ABC\u2019s North Asia Correspondent <\/i>Jake Sturmer<\/i><\/a> is also a successful <\/i>Curtin Journalism<\/i><\/a> graduate.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The arts keep us connected: the role of digital and social media<\/h2>\n

Associate Professor Tama Leaver is a researcher in digital and social media in Curtin\u2019s Faculty of Humanities. He points out that this year, all types of media communications have played roles we couldn\u2019t have anticipated.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, when the outbreak was declared a pandemic, people were seeking out the authoritative voices that were flowing through traditional media channels.<\/p>\n

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Professor Tama Leaver<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThen when we went into lockdown, social media became more important. We started relying on Messenger or Zoom or Skype \u2013 platforms to connect and engage with people for just about everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cZoom went from being \u2018what’s that?\u2019 to being almost ubiquitous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInstagram has played it very cleverly \u2013 I think they\u2019ve released more features in the past six months that in the preceding five years. Their angle was \u2018looking after the small businesses of the world\u2019, and it\u2019s made the platform almost indispensable, quite central to the way that we engage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, online business did boom – according to an Australia Post report<\/a>, in the eight weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic was announced, e-commerce in Australia grew 80 per cent compared to the same period in 2019.<\/p>\n

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Did you know?<\/h3>\n

Curtin offers an undergraduate major in <\/i>Digital and Social media<\/i><\/a>, which explores the human side of the internet.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The arts keep us entertained: Netflix and escapism<\/h2>\n

The entertainment industry overall has been hit hard, but streaming service Netflix bucked the trend, doubling its expected new subscriber tally in the first quarter 2020 and gleefully filling the gap left by the closure of cinemas and other entertainment venues.<\/p>\n

Nielsen<\/a> reported nearly 170 billion minutes of content was streamed during the week of 6 April. That\u2019s equivalent to 323,000 years\u2019 worth of content, and double the figures from the same week a year ago.<\/p>\n

While Netflix isn\u2019t the only streaming service, something that sets it apart is its commitment to creating opportunities for first-time filmmakers. In 2019, Netflix released 19 films from first-time directors. One of them was the critically acclaimed sci-fi movie I Am Mother<\/em><\/a> by Curtin graduate Grant Sputore.<\/p>\n

Starring Hillary Swank, Rose Byrne (as a voice actor) and breakout Danish star Clara Rugaard, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and maintains a 90 per cent certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.<\/p>\n