A Visibilidade das Fontes Especializadas no Jornalismo: O Exemplo da COVID-19

Felisbela Lopes; Rita Araújo; Olga Magalhães; Clara Almeida Santos; Ana Teresa Peixinho; Catarina Duff Burnay

doi:10.17231/comsoc.43(2023).4270

Authors

Felisbela Lopes Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9227-8998
Rita Araújo Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7124-6057
Olga Magalhães Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7559-4611
Clara Almeida Santos Centro de Estudos Interdisciplinares, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9122-387X
Ana Teresa Peixinho Centro de Estudos Interdisciplinares, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4533-7921
Catarina Duff Burnay Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Cultura, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7730-1707

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17231/comsoc.43(2023).4270

Keywords:

COVID-19, journalism, information sources, experts

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portuguese news media assumed a crucial role in informing the population, striving to develop knowledge about the disease, and promoting preventive behaviours to reduce transmission. To do so, they relied mainly on experts. While official interlocutors were still present in journalistic texts, scholars and physicians gained significant visibility. This article analyses how specialised sources contribute to news content in the Portuguese press. It presents findings from a study on the coverage of COVID-19. This study examines editions of the Portuguese newspapers Público and Jornal de Notícias during the state of emergency periods from March to May 2020, November to December 2020, and January to February 2021. The corpus of analysis includes 2,933 news texts and 6,350 sources: during the first phase of the national emergency, 1,850 texts were published, citing 4,048 sources; in the second phase, 457 texts were published, citing 857 sources; finally, during the third phase, 626 texts were published, citing 1,445 sources. The content analysis findings highlight the strength of professionals as reliable sources of information, particularly health professionals and scholars from the medical and social sciences. Regardless of their position, experts are more prominent in the media than official sources.

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Author Biographies

Felisbela Lopes, Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal

Felisbela Lopes is an associate professor at the University of Minho, where she has worked since 1994. From 2009 to 2014, she served as a pro-rector in communication. Her academic research has primarily focused on television information, health journalism, and information sources, while her teaching expertise lies in the field of journalism. Felisbela Lopes has completed her aggregation and doctoral studies, producing academic work around television information. She has authored numerous articles in scientific journals and books, including notable works such as Marcelo, Presidente Todos os Dias (Marcelo, President Every Day; Porto Editora, 2019), Jornalista: Uma Profissão Ameaçada (Journalist: A Threatened Profession; Alêtheia, 2015), Vinte Anos de TV Privada em Portugal (Twenty Years of Private TV in Portugal; Editora Guerra e Paz, 2012), A TV do Real (The TV of the Real; Minerva, 2008), A TV das Elites (The TV of the Elites; Campo das Letras, 2007) and Telejornal e o Serviço Público (Television News and Public Service; Minerva, 1999).

Rita Araújo, Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal

Rita Araújo, PhD in communication sciences, is an associate professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança and a researcher affiliated with the Communication and Society Research Centre at the University of Minho. Her research interests are communication and journalism in health, information sources, and health literacy. She was a visiting researcher at Hunter College, City University School of Public Health, New York. She integrated the Portuguese team of the Health Reporting Training Project (2010-3675 HeaRT), funded by the Lifelong Learning Program of the European Commission. Furthermore, she has been involved in research as a grant-funded researcher supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia in the national project A Doença em Notícia (PTDC/CCICOM/103886/2008). Her contributions to academia include authoring and co-authoring numerous scientific articles and book chapters, and she has presented her research findings at various national and international conferences.

Olga Magalhães, Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

Olga Estrela Magalhães has a PhD in communication sciences from the University of Minho, specialising in media advisory services related to health research. She is a researcher at Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde and coordinator of the Communication Management Unit at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto. Her research interests primarily focus on health communication, science communication, journalism, and media consultancy.

Clara Almeida Santos, Centro de Estudos Interdisciplinares, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Clara Almeida Santos is an assistant professor at the Department of Philosophy, Communication and Information, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, of the University of Coimbra and a researcher affiliated with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies. Holding a PhD in communication sciences, she previously served as the vice-rector of the University of Coimbra for Culture, Communication, Heritage, and Alumni from 2011 to 2018. As a qualified journalist, she worked at the Canal de Notícias de Lisboa and at SIC, where she was a reporter and editor at SIC Online. She was a lecturer at the Escola Superior de Educação de Coimbra and served as the communication director of Interacesso. She was also editor of the magazine Rua Larga, published by the rectory of the University of Coimbra. Throughout her career, Clara Almeida Santos has actively participated in various European projects related to intercultural dialogue and the media. Her expertise led her to serve as a consultant for the Council of Europe as part of the “Speak Out Against Discrimination” campaign.

Ana Teresa Peixinho, Centro de Estudos Interdisciplinares, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Ana Teresa Peixinho is an associate professor with aggregation at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra. She has a PhD in communication sciences and teaches journalism and communication studies. She is a researcher at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of the University of Coimbra, where she coordinated, between 2020 and 2023, with Clara Almeida Santos, the research group Communication, Journalism and Public Space. Her research interests include narrative media studies and media analysis.

Catarina Duff Burnay, Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Cultura, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal

Catarina Duff Burnay pursued post-doctoral studies at the School of Communications and Arts of the University of São Paulo. She is an associate professor at the Faculty of Human Sciences of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and coordinator of the Masters in Communication Sciences. She is a researcher and board member of the Research Centre for Communication and Culture and Culture and the Research Centre on Peoples and Cultures and coordinator of the Portuguese team for the Ibero-American Observatory of Television Fiction. Her research interests include television and audiovisual studies, production and programming strategies, and public and audiences.

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