Aspects of news dramatization during the first wave of the pandemic: Content analysis by time period, news coverage, and reference to the number of COVID-19 cases

Abstract

Mass media largely construct our perceptions of the world through their representations. However, the boundaries between the actual conveying of information and the way it is presented by the media are blurred due to infotainment. The purpose of the current research is to analyze the dramatization elements of the news related to the pandemic. It also highlights specific technical aspects of dramatization (music, images, similes/metaphors, adjectives) and correlates them with the news release period, the news
length, and whether or not a number of cases is reported. The research method implemented is quantitative content analysis considering the news item (for news bulletins) and the article (for news sites) as unit of analysis.