Spanish press coverage of the Covid-19 crisis. When front pages
alarm and editorials reassure
Cobertura de la Covid-19 en la prensa de calidad. Cuando las portadas alarman
y los editoriales tranquilizan
doxa.comunicación |
nº 36, pp. 65-85
| 65
January-June of 2023
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
How to cite this article:
Salvador-Mata, B. and Cortiñas-Rovira, S. (2023). Spanish press coverage of the Covid-19 crisis. When front pages alarm and editorials
reassure.
Doxa Comunicación
, 36, pp. 65-85.
https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n36a1831
Bertran Salvador-Mata
. Adjunct lecturer in the Communication department of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and
third-year PhD student at the same university. He has published several publications in indexed journals and over 250
citations in Google Scholar. He is currently the co-director of the journal
Comunicació. Revista de Recerca i d’Anàlisi
,
included in the Web of Science-JCR.
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
bertran.salvador@upf.edu
ORCID: 0000-0002-0499-0350
Sergi Cortiñas-Rovira.
Senior lecturer in the Communication department of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He has
published around fty papers in the felds of journalism, scientic communication, sports journalism and psuedoscience.
He has a PhD in Social Communication and is a graduate in Chemistry and Journalism. He is also a Professor at the
UPF-BSM (Barcelona School of Management).
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, España
UPF Barcelona School of Management, Spain
sergi.cortinas@upf.edu
ORCID: 0000-0002-7252-5418
Abstract:
e journalistic state of emergency that occurs during a health crisis
is characterised by a substantial increase in the number of news
items and a heightened risk of incurring in journalistic dysfunctions.
ese may vary between dierent sections of a newspaper. is
study has examined 124 front pages and 151 editorials from
El País,
La Vanguardia, El Mundo
and
El Periódico
published between
17/04/2020 and 17/05/2020 by applying inductive content analysis.
26% of the front pages contained journalistic dysfunctions of at least
one of the 8 subtypes described. However, these were only found in
14% of the editorials, mostly being linguistic in nature. e editorials
Resumen:
El estado de excepción periodístico que se produce durante una crisis
sanitaria se caracteriza por un incremento sustancial del número de no
-
ticias y una mayor probabilidad de cometer disfunciones periodísticas.
Estas pueden aparecer de modo diferencial en función de la sección del
periódico en el que se publican. En este trabajo se ha realizado un análi
-
sis de contenido inductivo de 124 portadas y 151 editoriales publicadas
en los diarios El País, La Vanguardia, El Periódico y El Mundo entre el
17/04/2020 y el 17/05/2020. En el 26% de las portadas se han detectado
disfunciones periodísticas de al menos uno de los 8 subtipos descritos
por metodología inductiva. En el 14% de los editoriales se han encon
-
Received: 26/10/2022 - Accepted: 07/12/2022 - Early access: 13/12/2022 - Published: 01/01/2023
Recibido: 26/10/2022 - Aceptado: 07/12/2022 - En edición: 13/12/2022 - Publicado: 01/01/2023
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66
| nº 36, pp. 65-85 |
January-June of 2023
Spanish press coverage of the Covid-19 crisis. When front pages alarm and editorials reassure
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
1. Introduction
Health crises can become disruptive for journalists’ duties, creating a kind of state of emergency in communication. e
communication of emergencies supposes a major and fundamental challenge and brings with it a notion of risk.
Risk society
or
risikogesellschaft
, to which both Giddens and Beck have dedicated eorts (Beck; Lash & Giddens; 1997; Beck, 2006), congures
a framework of reference from which one can understand reexive modernity and the notion and communication of risks. In
contemporary society, one can look to the future under the premise of risk, in the modern sense of the word (Galindo, 2015),
especially relevant in the handling of health crises which require a dicult balance between economic, health and political
measures. Crises are the essence of a (post)modernity characterised by a presumed absence of visible power, in an increasingly
globalised context and where control structures become invisible (Hardt & Negri, 2000). is makes the crises proliferate in a
type of continuum, with constant rallies.
Uncertainty and risk are the result of a society that lives looking to the future (Beck, Lash & Giddens, 1997) and which has
constructed its relationship with what is to come in an ongoing calculation of possibilities. e future is perceived, therefore,
as a result of comparing and assessing risks and uncertainties. In this context, communication of such risks to society becomes
essential for crisis management, including health crises.
ere is a reason the WHO considers communication risks to be one of its principal activities as an organisation. Part of
its bibliography consists of a series of reections and recommendations in this regard: from guides to establish the basic
elements of communication during health emergencies (WHO, 2017a), systematic reviews which help establish basic criteria
for recommendations (WHO, 2017b), or eective communication studies by the media (WHO, 2005a), to guides on how to
communicate outbreaks (WHO, 2005b). As a complement, numerous reviews have analysed and systematised these and
other recommendations, and have applied them, with nuances, to dened crisis contexts, such as, for example, outbreaks of
Ebola, Zika and yellow fever (Toppenberg-Pejcic et al., 2019) or the bird u pandemic (Abraham, 2011). In parallel, several
crisis communication models have been developed, from that of Reynolds & Seeger (2005) to that of Sandman (1993), and
decalogues of proposals for the management of risk communication (Pont-Sorribes & Cortiñas-Rovira, 2011).
e relationship with the public becomes essential when dealing with health crises, in terms of dialogue and the level of details,
evaluating scientic evaluations of risk and correlating with the needs of the audience (Seeger, 2006), whilst coordinating
tended to convey a message of rigour, prudence, and calm. is seems
to concur with the journalistic theorem arming that, during a serious
health crisis, the most truthful and reassuring information is to be
found in editorials rather than on front pages, which are more alarmist
and sensationalist. A new corollary is proposed for this theorem:
journalistic dysfunctions in editorials increase in a polarised political
context.
Keywords:
Alarmism; Covid-19; editorial; front page; journalistic dysfunction.
trado disfunciones, la mayoría de entidad lingüística. Los editoriales
suelen transmitir un mensaje de rigor, prudencia y sosiego. Se verica el
teorema periodístico que arma que, en el curso de una crisis sanitaria
grave, en los editoriales se encuentra la información periodística más
veraz y tranquilizadora, en contraposición a las portadas, que tienden
al alarmismo y al sensacionalismo. Se añade un corolario a este teore
-
ma: las disfunciones periodísticas en los editoriales se incrementan si se
da en un contexto de polarización política.
Palabras clave:
Alarmismo; Covid-19; disfunción periodística; editorial; portada.
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January-June of 2023
Bertran Salvador-Mata and Sergi Cortiñas-Rovira
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67
with credible sources. e relationship must begin as early as possible and must be built on bidirectional communication
channels. e risk must be recognised, analysed, and expounded honestly, even when faced with mistakes, whoever makes
them (Sandman, 1993).
e communication of risks occupies a fertile spot in the journalistic eld and starts with the idea that the public has a right to
know the risks and dangers of a critical situation. How this communication should proceed, however, is a matter for debate.
Some posit drawing the gloomiest possible picture to generate a situation where the population is ready for the worst, and
thus avoid panic should the crisis really get worse, what has been called inoculation theory (Jones, 2010; Anderson & McGuire,
1965). is ts with philosophical positions such as the heuristic of fear, defended by the philosopher Hans Jonas (1995),
whereby, faced by fear of a future catastrophe, morals must produce a preventative action, although the calamity itself is only
a possibility. ey share with the WHO (2005a) the necessity of giving a swift alert about a crisis situation. Even so, it is not
clear that painting an exaggeratedly negative scenario at the beginning is the best option, rather, it is more common to strike a
balance between known risks and the uncertainties to be communicated, without utilising empty words.
Reynolds and Seeger (2005) propose a model for crisis management and the communication of risks. Divided into ve phases,
it establishes the following periods: pre-crisis (where warnings are given and risks communicated), initial event (where
uncertainty should be reduced and eective messages given), maintenance (continue to reduce uncertainty and keep up
the eective messages), resolution (resolution, discussion of the cause and new risks, and forecasting of future risks), and
evaluation (to evaluate the response and the lessons learnt). Supposing that crises tend to follow a pattern, this model seeks to
anticipate and serve as a guide for communication management depending on the phase and the time.
Despite previous experiences, journalism is severely disrupted in a pandemic, making journalistic dysfunction more probable.
is is aggravated by the lack of specic protocols -in addition to deontological codes, which may appear highly generic-.
Moreover, the against-the-clock nature of the task and the lack of scientic training among sta, apart from a few specialised
journalists, may play a part, (Cortiñas-Rovira et al., 2014; Cassany-Viladomat, Cortiñas-Rovira & Elduque-Busquets, 2018).
e journalistic state of emergency during a health crisis is characterised by, among other aspects, a substantial increase
in the number of news items. Over the period April 27 to May 3, 2009, coinciding with the H1N1 u (or type A inuenza)
crisis, Duncan (2009) detected 3,979 items dealing directly with H1N1 u in a selection of the main European media. For a
month in a non-crisis time (January 15 to February 15, 2009), the total number of articles on health matters in general was
only 2,824. Zanetti et al., (2012) found an over-exposure of the subject during the same crisis, especially on the front pages of
Italian media. Lewison (2008) reported a peak with the SARS 2003 outbreak, especially concentrated in the week of April 20,
practically tripling in number compared to March 23. In that same crisis, Chan et al., (2003) detected a correlation between the
increase in the number of publications and new cases, but also discovered a lapse when there was no coverage of the outbreak,
just as it began.
e same pattern has been observed in the case of Covid-19. Lázaro-Rodríguez and Herrera-Viedma (2020) found a boom
in media output concerning the crisis, with its peak in Spain coming with the decree of the State of Alarm, when over 45,000
digital news items were found, which, moreover, represented the lion’s share of content published in the press. is fact
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January-June of 2023
Spanish press coverage of the Covid-19 crisis. When front pages alarm and editorials reassure
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
correlates with the pandemic-related boom in scientic informationof scientic information, as indicated by Torres-Salinas
(2020) analysing its publication in dierent data bases (Scopus, PubMed Central & WoS among others).
Beyond this excess of information, these communication crises were characterised by a series of journalistic dysfunctions
which, to a greater or a lesser degree, were repeated. Among the dysfunctions previously identied in contexts of health crises
were, mainly, the periods or frames of alarmism, sensationalism, generation of the language of fear (Altheide, 2002) or the
utilisation of bellicose or deliberately exaggerated language. ese were found, for example, in the case of H1N1 u (Liuccio et
al., 2012; Trucchi; Domnich & Casabona, 2011). In Italy, up to 47.9% of the infographics analysed had an alarming tone, with
considerable use of sensationalist images (Zanetti et al., 2012). In Spain, an analysis of media coverage of the early stages of
the same virus also detected alarmism, sensationalism, lack of deeper information on science matters and a lack of rigour in
some content (Camacho, 2009; Cortiñas-Rovira; Pont-Sorribes & Alonso-Marcos, 2015).
ese studies indicate that journalistic dysfunctions do not follow a single pattern in the dierent sections of a paper. Cortiñas-
Rovira, Pont-Sorribes and Alonso-Marcos (2015) have set out a theorem which states that more trustworthy and pertinent
information concerning health crises is found in editorials than on front pages. is study intends to test this theory applied to
journalistic production at the height of a worldwide pandemic, that of Covid-19.
Any crisis like a pandemic supposes maximum tension for the media, but the case of Covid-19 brings other diculties to
the table which were far less serious in other health crises: (1) reduction in the number of workers due to the pandemic, (2)
mobility problems, (3) complications with access to sources, especially doctors, who were also overwhelmed by the situation,
and (4) possible emotional eects on journalists and sources.
All of this adds up to a truly complex journalistic context, worthy of analysis. is study analyses journalistic output published
over a month at the height of the Covid-19 crisis to analyse the most frequent journalistic dysfunctions in these news items,
as well as to establish a comparison between two distinct elements: editorials and front pages, with the intention of dening
their dierences and contributions to the education and literacy of the population in a crisis. Furthermore, it intends to test the
theorem proposed by Cortiñas-Rovira, Pont-Sorribes and Alonso-Marcos (2015).
2. Methodology
is study analyses journalistic coverage at the height of the pandemic by looking at the content reected on the front pages
and in the editorials of four of the main Spanish dailies (
El País, El Mundo, la Vanguardia
and
El Periódico
) over the period
from 17/04/2020 to 17/05/2020.
is period has been chosen, partially coinciding as it does with other studies into Covid-19 (Torres-Salinas, 2020), because
that was the equator of the rst State of Alarm (15/03/2020 to 21/06/2020). It represents approximately a third of said period,
thus being a signicant sample, which allows analysis of the development of media handling of the pandemic.
e front pages and editorials published digitally in the newspapers analysed were compiled for the sample. e various
newspapers’ library services were employed for the front pages, while for the editorials the FACTIVA tool was utilised, ltering
by dates, type of content (editorial) and newspaper. From the total of items gathered, all those which did not touch on the
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Bertran Salvador-Mata and Sergi Cortiñas-Rovira
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69
Covid-19 pandemic or derived matters (economic, educational or health measures) were excluded. e nal n was 124 front
pages and 151 editorials.
La Vanguardia
and
El Mundo
published a large number of editorials which met the criteria for
inclusion, therefore their weight in the sample is greater than the other two newspapers.
Table 1. Description of the sample analysed
Front page
Editorials
Total Total
El País
3126
El Periódico
31
29
La Vanguardia
3150
El Mundo
3146
124151
Source: created by the authors
Once the sample was compiled, mixed (qualitative and quantitative) inductive content analysis was applied. e authors
examined both individually and qualitatively all those elements present on the front pages (headline, epigraph, subtitle, main
and secondary items, frieze and photographs) and in the editorials (title, subtitle, text) susceptible to containing journalistic
dysfunctions. e dierent dysfunctions identied were placed together and agreed consensually one by one.
Secondly, the dysfunctions were coded, grouping them together for a total of seven categories, named by consensus. ese
categories or “frames” were acquired inductively from indicators such as metaphors, examples, arguments, images... We
assumed that these frames
did
not appear explicitly and, therefore, it was necessary to perform an immersive process in the
sample to categorise and interpret the results (as in, for example, Ardévol-Abreu, 2015).
It was attempted, where possible, to
link the categories of dysfunctions or frames to standardised concepts in the bibliography (for example, alarmism, language
of fear, sensationalism, use of bellicose language); in other cases, specic dysfunctions, of a more deontological nature
(inappropriate dealings with disadvantaged collectives; invasion of privacy), were named as the sample required. For the front
pages, it was necessary to create an additional code: includes opinion.
e dysfunctions identied and coded in the study were the following: (1) creating social alarm, (2) fostering the language of
fear, (3) use of bellicose or catastrophic language, (4) use of deliberately exaggerated language, (5) sensationalism, (6) invasion
of privacy, (7) inappropriate treatment of disadvantaged social groups or other sensitive collectives. An eighth had to be added
for the front pages: (8) not respecting the divide between information and opinion.
irdly, quantitative frequencies were established by the number and type of dysfunction detected in each newspaper.
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Spanish press coverage of the Covid-19 crisis. When front pages alarm and editorials reassure
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
As the coding process was inductive, it is biased in favour of the dysfunctions on the front pages, as these were more recurrent
and varied. Even so, in some cases editorials also contain the dysfunctions, as will be seen in the results and discussion.
e principal objective of the study is to identify the dysfunctions present in these pieces, and to compare their frequency,
aetiology, and importance by the section they appear in (editorials or front pages) and the newspaper.
e secondary objective of the study is to verify whether, in the context of Covid-19, the journalistic theory propounded for
the A Flu (H1N1) health crisis is supported, that is, that editorials contain more reliable information (Cortiñas-Rovira; Pont-
Sorribes; Alonso-Marcos, 2015).
3. Results
From the total of 124 front pages analysed, dysfunctions were identied in 33 (26% of the total). On these front pages, up to
63 dierent dysfunctions were counted (1.9 dysfunctions per front page). Regarding the editorials, fewer items containing
dysfunctions were found, 21, corresponding to 14% of the total. Except in one case, only one dysfunction was found per
editorial. Table 2 shows the data obtained by newspaper and genre analysed.
Table 2. Front pages & editorials with dysfunctions & total # of dysfunctions per newspaper
Front pages
Editorials
Total
With
dysfunctions
Total
dysfunctions
Total
With
dysfunctions
Total
dysfunctions
El País
317132644
El Periódico
3113
23
2922
La Vanguardia
31485044
El Mundo
31919461112
12433631512122
Source: created by the authors
e medium with most dysfunctions on its front pages is
El Periódico
, with 23 dysfunctions on 13 dierent front pages, closely
followed by
El Mundo
, with 19 dysfunctions on 9 front pages. In the editorials, the newspaper with by far the greatest number
of dysfunctions is
El Mundo,
with 11 editorials including some type of dysfunction (nearly 24% of the total of the sample).
Table 3 reects all the dysfunctions found on the front pages by type. e commonest dysfunction identied is number 4 (use
of deliberately exaggerated language), which occurred on 14 occasions. e second most frequent is type 2 (fostering the
language of fear), identied 11 times. en come types 1 (creating social alarm) and 5 (sensationalism), with 10 appearances
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Bertran Salvador-Mata and Sergi Cortiñas-Rovira
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each. Including opinion (dysfunction 8) was identied on 7 occasions. Type 6 (invasion of privacy) was seen 5 times, number 3
(use of bellicose or catastrophic language) on four occasions. Type 7 (inappropriate treatment of disadvantaged social groups)
was only found on two occasions.
Examination of the editorials gives varied results. Dysfunctions were found in 21 of the 151 editorials (14%), though in all the
editorials, bar one, no more than a single dysfunction was discovered. e aetiology of these dysfunctions was the 4th (use of
deliberately exaggerated language), on 13 occasions and the 3rd (use of bellicose or catastrophic language), on 9 occasions.
ere is, therefore, no appearance of alarmist speech, nor of that which causes fear, nor sensationalism, nor invasion of privacy
nor inappropriate treatment of vulnerable collectives. In this sense, any infringements present in the editorials are minor, in
that they do not incur in the prime malas praxis described in the introduction, but rather are of a linguistic character.
It was found that any infringements in the editorials tend to be of a political nature, related to argument and the political arena.
e newspaper
El Mundo
accumulates most of these editorials with dysfunctions.
El Periódico,
with only 2 editorials with
dysfunctions, is the newspaper incurring in fewest journalistic errors in that category.
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Spanish press coverage of the Covid-19 crisis. When front pages alarm and editorials reassure
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
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Table 3. Dysfunctions identied on the front pages of the newspapers by type
11
Tabla 3. Disfunciones identificadas en las portadas de los distintos
periódicos por tipología
Fuente: Elaboración propia
A continuación, se detallan y explican de forma contextualizada las
vulneraciones de los códigos deontológicos encontradas en la muestra
analizada.
Disfunción (localización, fecha)
Tipo de
disfunción
El País
La generación triturada (Titular pieza secundaria, 26/04/20)
4
Ataúdes de cartón en Nueva York (Fotografía central, 28/04/20)
5
Fusiles contra el confinamiento (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 2/05/20)
3
Los jóvenes, arrasados por la crisis (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 10/05/20) //
“En la desescalada se pueden
cometer errores muy traumáticos” (Titular
pieza
principal, cita de Carmen Calvo, 10/05/20)
4 // 2, 1
¿Es lícito infectar a personas sanas para buscar una vacuna? (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 14/05/20)
1, 2
La epidemia hundió Detroit en 72 horas (Friso, 16/05/20)
4, 2
¿Hay que encerrar a los viejos? (Friso, 17/05/20, Opinión
)
2, 1, 7
El
Periódico
Imagen de la morgue (Fotografía central, 17/04/20)
5
Imagen de un niño reconocible (Fotografía central, 18/04/20)
6
Imagen de niños reconocibles (Fotografía central, 22/04/20)
6
Esperanza y miedo en la UCI (Titular notica secundaria, 23/04/20) // Imagen de un box de la UCI
(Fotografía central, 23/04/20)
2, 5 // 6, 5
Pánico en el país de los bares (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 25/04/20)
2, 1
La catástrofe exige reformar los geriátricos (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 28/04/20)
4
España, campeona en “crispación” vírica (Subtítulo
pieza
principal, 06/05/20)
8, 4
La escuela del virus (Titular pieza principal, 08/05/20)// Imagen de niños reconocibles en conferencia
(Fotografía central, 08/05/20
)
4 // 6
La pandemia amenaza con más miseria a América Latina (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 10/05/20)
2
El virus aboca a la extinción a la venta ambulante (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 11/05/20)
//
Imagen de un profesional sanitario con equipo de protección (Fotografía central, 11/05/20)
4 // 1, 5
Pobreza sobrevenida (Titular
pieza
principal, 14/05/20)
1
Muerte y devastación económica en dos meses de confinamiento (Subtítulo
pieza
principal, 15/05/20)
1, 5, 4
El miedo al hambre se suma a los impagos de facturas (Subtítulo
pieza
secundaria, 17/05/20)
2
La
Vanguardia
Las aterradoras cifras del virus en las residencias: ¿qué ha pasado? (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 26/04/20)
4, 2
Más muertos que en la Guerra del Vietnam (Pie de fotografía, 1/05/20)
//
Imagen de una mujer arrastrando un muerto (Fotografía central, 1/05/20)
3, 2 // 5
Invasión de franceses desconfinados en la Jonquera (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 12/05/20)
3, 1
El virus dejará un cierre masivo de comercios (Pie de la fotografía central, 13/05/20)
4
El Mundo
Los mellizos del coronavirus (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 20/04/20)
//
Imagen de dos recién nacidos reconocibles (Fotografía central, 20/04/20)
4 // 6
Un Gobierno rebasado rectifica en horas sobre el paseo infantil (Titular
pieza
principal, 22/04/20)
8
El naufragio de la gestión deja a Sánchez más solo que nunca (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 23/04/20)// Fin a
la morgue de hielo, símbolo de la pandemia (Titular
pieza
secundaria, 23/04/20)
8 // 5, 4, 1
Illa tergiversa los datos para doblar la curva de la pandemia (Titular
pieza
principal, 25/04/20)
8
Control de temperatura en súper chinos de Madrid (Pie de fotografía central, 29/04/20)
7
El Estado se prepara para un aluvión de demandas por la mala gestión del COVID
-
19 (Titular
pieza
principal, 04/05/20)
8
Sánchez amenaza con “el caos” para alargar su estado de alarma (Titular
pieza
principal, 05/05/20)
8
Fotoportada de Ayuso vestida de luto (Foto central, con cita “Vamos a la ruina económica”, 10/05/20)
5, 1, 2, 4
“Alrededor de un mes más” de estado de alarma exorbitado (Titular
pieza
principal, 17/05/20) //
8 // 4, 3, 5
Los “supercientíficos” al rescate de la humanidad (Friso, 17/05/20)
Source: created by the authors