Media Research Centre, Manipal Institute of Communication and the Centre for the Study of Conflict, Emotion and Social Justice
Abstract
This report presents the findings of an inquiry into the journalism on Covid-19 published by two prominent newspapers in Kerala. We analyse the reportage on the pandemic in the six months after the first case in the state was reported. News coverage that appeared in the Malayala Manorama (MM) and The New Indian Express (TNIE) between 31 January 2020, when news reports confirmed the first infection in Kerala, and 31 July 2020 were analysed7 in this study. We included all articles relating to the pandemic that appeared in this six-month period on the front and editorial pages of MM and TNIE. Further, to illuminate the patterns arising from the content analysis, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 journalists who worked for the two newspapers, six each from MM and TNIE