COVID-19 pandemic as a media event: The specifics of construction in social media

Abstract

"2020 went down in history as the year of the pandemic and lockdowns. In the context of self-isolation, the construction of a global media event, the COVID-19 pandemic, plays a key role in the audience's perception of information and their further actions. The research focuses on the timeline of the ""first wave"" of the spread of the virus (the initial stage, the implementing of compulsory universal self-isolation, the lifting of restrictive measures). Six social and political Telegram channels with a large outreach, which often served as a key source of information about the pandemic for the public, were chosen for the analysis. In total, 825 posts were analysed. The main sources of information about the coronavirus were identified: the media, official data from organizations that keep statistics on people who got infected/recovered, statements by officials on the situation in a country and the world, and the Telegram channels' own information. During the pandemic, popular Telegram channels adhered to a common agenda alongside with the media, thus, in fact, not offering a large percentage of original materials. Based on the content analysis, a conclusion is made about the transformation of the construction of a media event. In terms of visualization, posts containing photos or emojis predominated. By the end of the first wave, the number of posts containing videos dropped. Short clips (up to 20-30 seconds), in fact, served as photo illustrations. The increase in the number of posts containing memes is explained by the need for a mass audience to understand and reflect on the events that are taking place. During the ""first wave"", the priority areas in the topics of the posts were statistics on the number of infected/recovered people;initiatives of the authorities;and social, cultural, and entertainment subject matters. However, from the initial period to the moment when self-isolation was lifted, the topics of the posts changed: the number of articles on morbidity and mortality significantly decreased, the second period recorded the largest number of articles about lifestyle, while social topics were among the leading ones in the third period. The study revealed a miniscule number of fake news - 1%, which can be explained by the tightening of criminal legislation regarding the dissemination of knowingly false information. Regarding the theory of strategies for deproblematization of situations, the Telegram channels used the following strategies: the strategy of declaring powerlessness, the strategy of perspectivization, and the strategy of criticizing tactics."