<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The main purpose of this paper was to explore the media image of the COVID-19 pandemic through the perspective of Polish media polarisation. In order to achieve this, a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the content of covers from 10 socio-political magazines, representing different ideological inclinations [left-wing, liberal, conservative, right-wing and Catholic] was conducted between January and June 2020. The study focused not only on the scale to which the coronavirus appeared on the covers, but also on the textual and visual representation of it. Additionally, the contexts in which COVID-19 appeared were analysed. As it turned out, apart from the medical context, the pandemic was mostly presented through political, social, economic and religious perspectives, of which the first was the most visibly connected with polarising media content, indicating clear links between the ideological bias of the magazines and the ways they described reality.</p></abstract>

The main purpose of this paper was to explore the media image of the COVID-19 pandemic through the perspective of Polish media polarisation. In order to achieve this, a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the content of covers from 10 socio-political magazines, representing different ideological inclinations [left-wing, liberal, conservative, right-wing and Catholic] was conducted between January and June 2020. The study focused not only on the scale to which the coronavirus appeared on the covers, but also on the textual and visual representation of it. Additionally, the contexts in which COVID-19 appeared were analysed. As it turned out, apart from the medical context, the pandemic was mostly presented through political, social, economic and religious perspectives, of which the first was the most visibly connected with polarising media content, indicating clear links between the ideological bias of the magazines and the ways they described reality.

Is COVID-19 on the Covers of Socio-Political Magazines an Example of Media Polarisation? Case Study from Poland

Baltic Screen Media Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The main purpose of this paper was to explore the media image of the COVID-19 pandemic through the perspective of Polish media polarisation. In order to...

Is COVID-19 on the Covers of Socio-Political Magazines an Example of Media Polarisation? Case Study from Poland

Published Online: Dec 21, 2020

Page range: 36 - 53

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bsmr-2020-0005

Keywords
media polarisation, COVID-19, magazine covers

© 2020 Anna Jupowicz-Ginalska, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Is COVID-19 on the Covers of Socio-Political Magazines an Example of Media Polarisation? Case Study from Poland

Published Online: Dec 21, 2020

Page range: 36 - 53

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bsmr-2020-0005

Keywordsmedia polarisation, COVID-19, magazine covers

© 2020 Anna Jupowicz-Ginalska, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
media polarisation, COVID-19, magazine covers