Online News Media Framing of COVID-19 Pandemic: Probing the Initial Phases of the Disease Outbreak in International Media

In their scholarly article, “Online News Media Framing of COVID-19 Pandemic,” communication researchers Sylvia Ndanu Mutua and Daniel Oloo Ong’ong’a examine how international news media constructed early narratives of the COVID-19 outbreak in their article, “Online News Media Framing of COVID-19 Pandemic.” Through a content analysis of stories from CNN, BBC, Al-Jazeera, and People’s Daily published between January 1 and February 29, 2020, the authors identify recurring frames—economic consequences, human impact, attribution of responsibility, and health severity—organized into optimistic, pessimistic, and neutral categories. They find that BBC coverage leaned pessimistic, People’s Daily tended toward neutral with an emphasis on responsibility attribution, and CNN focused more on human interest. The study underscores how such framing not only informs public health discourse but also plays a central role in shaping collective understanding and emotional responses during a global health crisis.

Mutua and Ong’ong’a argue that media storytelling during pandemics is not merely informational but deeply ideological, often embedding political and cultural biases. Their analysis reveals a strong presence of Sinophobia—anti-Chinese sentiment—particularly in Western coverage, echoing earlier anti-African framings during the Ebola outbreak. By tracing these narrative patterns, the authors show how pandemic discourse can reinforce stigma and marginalization. They call for critical awareness of how media narratives contribute to global pandemic storytelling, advocating for more responsible and inclusive representations in the face of emerging disease.