Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancements in Multiplex Detection of Respiratory Viruses
Published on: November 10, 2023
Politicization and Polarization in COVID-19 News Coverage
P Sol Hart1, Sedona Chinn2, Stuart Soroka1
1University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Abstract:
This study examines the level of politicization and polarization in COVID-19 news in U.S. newspapers and televised network news from March to May 2020. Using multiple computer-assisted content analytic approaches, we find that newspaper coverage is highly politicized, network news coverage somewhat less so, and both newspaper and network news coverage are highly polarized. We find that politicians appear in newspaper coverage more frequently than scientists, whereas politicians and scientists are more equally featured in network news. We suggest that the high degree of politicization and polarization in initial COVID-19 coverage may have contributed to polarization in U.S. COVID-19 attitudes.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Group Polarization
Pareto Chart
The Pareto chart is named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who described the Pareto...
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Types of Skewness
For instance, in the middle of a pandemic, the geographical distribution of vaccine coverage may be positively skewed towards populations in the global north countries. However,...
Steps in Outbreak Investigation
Issues And Trends In Healthcare Delivery System
Cost Containment
Payment for healthcare services has historically promoted adoption of costly and often unnecessary or inefficient...

