Daily Newspaper Coverage of the Coronavirus Outbreak (COVID-19): A Content Analysis of Jutarnji and Večernji list in the Initial Phase of the Disease Outbreak in Croatia

Pandemija koronavirusa (COVID-19) je postavila velik izazov za medijske djelatnike budući da upravo mediji imaju odgovornost publici pružiti pravovremene informacije te izvještavati što kvalitetnije i odgovornije, bez nejasnoća i širenja panike. Način na koji će izvještavati u stanjima krize koju prati strah i ugroza iznimno je važan jer mediji mogu utjecati na stavove i formiranje poželjnih ponašanja koja mogu biti presudna za nastavak širenja bolesti, posebice u početnoj fazi. Rad polazi od pitanja kako su hrvatske dnevne novine Jutarnji list i Večernji list izvještavale o slučaju koronavirusa (COVID-19) na samome početku izbijanja zaraze u Hrvatskoj, točnije od pojave prvog slučaja zaražene osobe. Cilj je bio ustvrditi je li javnost, preko nacionalnih dnevnih medija, bila vjerodostojno informirana o slučaju koronavirusa, odnosno jesu li se mediji vodili etičkim standardima pri izvještavanju. Provedena je kvantitativna analiza sadržaja u periodu od mjesec dana (26. veljače - 26.ožujka 2020.) koja je testirala koliko su medijski prilozi zadovoljili etička načela odgovornosti, pravde i istine. Rezultati pokazuju da su Jutarnji i Večernji list, u zadovoljavajućoj mjeri etično i vjerodostojno izvijestili o ovoj zdravstvenoj krizi, što se očitovalo u promoviranju preventivnih mjera, korištenju pouzdanih izvora, izbjegavanju senzacionalizma, korištenju neutralnog tona te korištenju ispravnih termina kada je bila riječ o oboljelim osobama.The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has posed a great challenge for journalists since the media must provide the public with timely information and report as responsibly as possible, without ambiguities and spreading panic. How they report during health crises is extremely important because the media can influence attitudes and the formation of desirable behaviors that can be crucial to the spread of the disease, especially in the initial stage. This paper starts from the question of how the Croatian daily newspapers Jutarnji list and Večernji list reported on the case of coronavirus (COVID-19) at the very beginning of the outbreak in Croatia, which means from the appearance of the first case of an infected person. The aim was to determine whether the public, through the national daily media, was credibly informed about the coronavirus pandemic. To answer that, this study tested whether the media were guided by ethical standards in reporting. A quantitative content analysis was conducted over a month (February 26 - March 26, 2020) to analyze how well the media reports met the ethical principles of responsibility, justice, and truth. The results show that reporting of Jutarnji and Večernji list on this health crisis was ethical and credible, which was reflected in the promotion of preventive measures, the use of reliable sources, the absence of sensationalism, the use of a neutral tone, and the use of ethically acceptable terms when it came to the people that were infected