Design, Information, and Accessibility: News in Pandemic Times

Abstract

Daily newspapers play a decisive role in informing citizens and involving them in society. The information they transmit must be clear and easily accessible. The design determines, to a great extent, the ease of access to information through page organization, content hierarchy, images, and color. To understand the importance of information about the pandemic in Portugal and how this relevance was manifested through design, we selected three key moments of the pandemic and analyzed the news published in the three Portuguese daily newspapers Correio da Manhã, Jornal de Notícias, and Público, regarding the number of pieces published, length, location on the page and use of iconography.