Cobertura de la COVID-19 en la prensa de calidad. Cuando las portadas alarman y los editoriales tranquilizan

Bertran Salvador-Mata; Sergi Cortiñas-Rovira

doi:10.31921/doxacom.n36a1831

Authors

Bertran Salvador-Mata University Pompeu Fabra, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0499-0350
Sergi Cortiñas-Rovira University Pompeu Fabra, & UPF Barcelona School of Management, Spain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n36a1831

Keywords:

alarmism, covid-19, editorial, frontpage, journalistic dysfunction

Abstract

The 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. These may vary between different sections of a newspaper. This 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. The editorials tended to convey a message of rigour, prudence, and calm. This seems to concur with the journalistic theorem affirming 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.

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Author Biographies

Bertran Salvador-Mata, University Pompeu Fabra, Spain

Salvador-Mata is lecturer in the Communication department of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and third-year PhD student at the same university. He has had some ten 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.
Sergi Cortiñas-Rovira, University Pompeu Fabra, & UPF Barcelona School of Management, Spain

Professor Cortiñas-Rovira is senior lecturer in the Communication department of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He has published around fifty papers in the fields of journalism, scientific communication, sports journalism, pseudo-science and others. He has over 1500 citations in Google Scholar.

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