Understanding the Present Through the Past

A Comparison of Spanish News Coverage of the 1918 Flu and Covid-19 Pandemics

Bibliographic Data

ID21643631
AuthorsS Edwards (University of Cambridge, corresponding author), Samantha N Edwards (University of Cambridge)
Year2022
Volume99
Issue1
Pages12-43
Publication date2022-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism & Mass Communication Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1077-6990 • E-ISSN: 2161-430X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/10776990211061762
OpenAlexW4200518999
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited19

Through a comparative analysis of Spanish newspaper coverage of the 1918 flu and COVID-19 pandemics, this article explores the parallels between them, their roles in reflecting and facilitating public perceptions of infectious diseases, the national dialogues they incite, and the search for solutions in a global health crisis. I use qualitative analysis to interpret media themes of contagion as they shift from societal complacency to panic as disaster unfolds. In weaving together Philip Strong’s model for epidemic psychology and Jim A. Kuypers’s rhetorical approach to news framing, I analyze how newspapers communicate changing assumptions about epidemiologic risks during pandemics

Media studies · News media · News values · Newspaper · Pandemic · Parallels · Perception · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · History · Media Influence and Health · Media Studies and Communication · Medicine · Psychology

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