Abstract

ZUNINO, Esteban. Digital Media and Covid-19: overinformation, polarization and misinformation. Universitas [online]. 2021, n.34, pp.133-154. ISSN 1390-8634.  https://doi.org/10.17163/uni.n34.2021.06.

This investigation analyses the media treatment of Covid-19 in main Argentinian digital media. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has reconfigured the economic and social life, jointly with the centrality of the media system and the thematic composition of the media agendas. The demand of information during the outbreak enhanced the role of digital media as reliable sources. In specific terms, this work aims to investigate: 1) the evolution of the media agendas during the social isolation period; 2) the information sources deployment; and 3) the differential standing obtained by different actors in the media treatment. To this goal, a quantitative content analysis was developed of the most relevant news items in Infobae, Clarín, La Nación and Página/12 between March 20 and October 18, 2020 (n=4,240). Results show the existence of similar thematic agendas and a homogeneous presence of state sources in media with different editorial positions. Furthermore, there is partisan and polarized coverage, which is evident in the differential standing attributed to the official and opposition state sources in the analyzed media. The media treatment of the pandemic, over an extensive period, followed a cycle of over-information, polarization and misinformation that was detrimental to public debate quality.

Keywords : Pandemic; journalism; information; electronic media; politics; information sources.

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