Digital Media and COVID-19: overinformation, polarization and misinformation
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Abstract
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.
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