Between information campaign and controversy: a quantitative newspaper content analysis about COVID-19 vaccination in Switzerland and Austria.

Zimmermann, Bettina M; Paul, Katharina T; Janny, Anna; Butt, Zarah (2024). Between information campaign and controversy: a quantitative newspaper content analysis about COVID-19 vaccination in Switzerland and Austria. Scandinavian journal of public health, 52(3), pp. 253-261. Sage 10.1177/14034948231195388

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AIMS

Because media portrayal reflects and shapes public opinion and health policy, investigating news coverage of public health issues is highly relevant for public health research and practice. Addressing a topical issue, this study investigated how newspaper coverage framed COVID-19 vaccines in Austria and German-speaking Switzerland and how it developed over time.

METHODS

A quantitative newspaper content analysis of six newspapers from Austria and German-speaking Switzerland published between January 1 and 31, 2022 was conducted. Frames were identified for each country separately through hierarchical cluster analysis (Ward's method) based on frame elements.

RESULTS

Four frames were identified in both countries: (1) Evaluating new vaccines, (2) Discussing mandates, (3) Promoting vaccination, (4) Mentioning vaccines. In Frames 1 (Switzerland 86.4%, Austria 93.3%) and 3 (Switzerland 92.7%, Austria 98.9%), most articles included vaccine-endorsing statements, with Swiss coverage including additional negative statements more often than Austrian coverage (43.2%/44.6% vs 4.0%/3.3%). Frame 2 was closely linked to vaccine skepticism only in Austria and contained more evaluative statements in Austrian newspapers (25.4% endorsing, 35.4% rejecting; in Switzerland 14.5%/18.1%). The Austrian tabloid Kronen Zeitung published most articles (497/1091, 45.6%).

CONCLUSIONS

The commercialized and comparatively high share of tabloid news coverage in Austria may have contributed to oversimplified and polarizing COVID-19 vaccine debates in this context. Insufficiently balanced and adequate information may contribute to a loss of public trust in vaccination and may therefore affect vaccination uptake. Authorities and public health professionals should consider this effect when designing information campaigns.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Philosophy
UniBE Contributor:	Zimmermann, Bettina Maria
Subjects:	100 Philosophy
ISSN:	1403-4948
Publisher:	Sage
Language:	English
Submitter:	Pubmed Import
Date Deposited:	31 Aug 2023 08:31
Last Modified:	04 May 2024 00:12
Publisher DOI:	10.1177/14034948231195388
PubMed ID:	37646484
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Austria COVID-19 Switzerland content analysis frame analysis print media public debate vaccination
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/185925