POLISH MEDIA COVERAGE DURING THE FIRST STAGE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ONLINE NEWS OUTLETS AND TV CHANNELS PAWEŁ ŁOKIĆ, MACIEJ ŚWISTOŃ Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań Faculty of Political Science and Journalism Poznań 2021 Reviewers: Professor Agnieszka Szymańska Bartłomiej Biskup PhD Translated by: Adela A. Piontek Linguistic editor: Calum R. S. Jones The research was financed by the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań as a part of the project “Research on COVID-19”. © Copyright by Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań Scientific Publisher of the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism 5. Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego Street, 61-614 Poznań, tel. 61 829 65 17 Publisher: Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań Scientific Publisher of the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism ul. Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 5, 61-614 Poznań, tel. 61 829 65 17 ISBN 978-83-66740-20-4 Computer composition – „MRS”, 60-408 Poznań, ul. P. Zołotowa 23, tel. kom. 605087690 Printing and binding – PERFEKT – Gaul i wspólnicy sp.j., ul. Skórzewska 63, 60-185 Skórzewo “Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world, yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history, yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise…” Albert Camus M.A. Maciej Świstoń – PhD student at the Department of Social Communication, and a graduate of journalism and social communication at the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism in Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Academically interested in popular culture, new media, technology and para-documentary series. A member of the Polish Society of Social Communication. PhD Paweł Łokić – assistant professor at the Department of Social Communica- tion. A diligent observer and researcher of the broadly understood process of mass communication, with particular emphasis on the environment of new media and Internet technologies. Privately, a great enthusiast of cinematography and popular culture. Member of the Polish Society of Social Communication. 5 Table of contents Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 1. Research aims, methodology, and sample selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Project objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Research methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Sample selection timeline – early 2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Timeline – March 2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Timeline – April and May 2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Chapter 2. Content analysis of online news outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The character and subject matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Actors, general sentiment, facts and opinions present in broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . 27 Framing pandemic news, consequences of the pandemic in sampled broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Geographical location and the sentiment of broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Footage and photography in the research sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Assessment of the actions taken by the government in the research sample . . . . 36 The situation in Poland as presented in the research sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Chapter 3. TV content analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 The character and subject matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Actors, general sentiment, facts and opinions present in broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . 48 Framing pandemic news, consequences of the pandemic in sampled broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Geographical location and the sentiment of broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Footage and photography in the research sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Assessment of the actions taken by the government in the research sample . . . . 77 The situation in Poland as presented in the research sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Chapter 4. Comparative analysis of the entirety of the research sample . . . . . . . . . 83 The character and leading topics of news items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Actors, general sentiment, facts and opinions present in broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . 90 Framing pandemic news, consequences of the pandemic in sampled broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Geographical location and the sentiment of broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Footage and photography in the research sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Assessment of the actions taken by the government in the research sample . . . . 114 The situation in Poland as presented in the research sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 List of Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Acknowledgments The publication presented below is the result of the first stage of the project “Me- dia messages during COViD-19 pandemic”, conducted at the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. Apart from the authors, the research team included the Chair of Social Communication Department, professor Dorota Piontek, and Monika Jabłońska, a member of the Social Communications Department. Also, we would like to thank Piotr Jabłoński for his tremendous support in technical matters. The results presented in the following publications will serve, in the authors’ view, as an important basis for subsequent discussion on the narratives used to report on the pandemic in Poland and abroad. They also provide a starting point for the study of their influence on the audience. Undoubtedly, the results are just a fragment of the mass communication landscape, but significant enough as the research sample included Poland’s crucial news outlets. These outlets dictate the tone of public debate in the face of such a serious threat. And even though the re- sults obtained offer much more content for debate on the state of the contemporary national mass media that could be captured within the constraints of these publica- tions, we leave it up to you, the audience, to interpret and ponder upon. The Authors. 9 Introduction The Covid-19 global pandemic is an event that has dramatically reshaped the con- temporary world. With the beginning of 2020 came far-reaching changes in the way states, governments, societies, and even individuals, function. All of these entities had to face a situation that threatens their health and lives, limits their civic freedoms in order to defend them against this threat, and warrants the protection of sensitive aspects of the social system, such as the economy, education, or employ- ment. It is worth noting that the pandemic presents a challenge in adapting to new conditions, both in terms of protecting public health, the economy and communi- cations, but also in terms of new laws and regulations that reflect states’ policies regarding the ever present and constant threat. The issue came about in nonlinear fashion, starting in China and other Asian countries (in December 2019), and soon after reaching Europe and the United States. The prominence of the pandemic and the period of increased interest in the topic was directly correlated with, naturally, the number of Covid-19 cases in a given country or region. The issue of Covid-19 came to Poland relatively late, as the first SARS-COViD-2 infection was reported here on 4 March, 2020. Mass media played a particularly important role in main- taining public safety, the organisation of anticrisis activities, and arriving at a pop- ular consensus on the scale of the threat and the legitimation of government-led actions in this extraordinary period. Undoubtedly, the state of jeopardy to public health and safety provides critical context for the government’s decisions and ac- tions, but also generates huge interest from the public, who yearn for reliable and verified information on the topic. Any pandemic creates anxiety and fear of the un- known threat. Mass media hold unmatched power to reduce this anxiety, through performing their systemic functions as they relate to their audience. Reporting on the aetiology of the virus, course of the pandemic, and actions taken by the govern- ment in a clear way significantly influences the social mood, can lead to increase in conciliation and legitimation (in relation to e.g. restrictions introduced), and im- pacts the level of knowledge and awareness amongst citizens. Apart from inform- ing on the pandemic and educating their audiences, mass media perform other so- cial functions of importance, such as mobilising their audience against a common enemy, or controlling and verifying actions as taken by the decision-makers. All of these aspects of media institutions and their functions take a particular meaning in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The reliability of reported information becomes a sine qua non condition for maintaining social order, and the framing of media broadcasts determines social attitudes towards a global challenge. Taking into consideration the aforementioned challenges facing the media, es- pecially news broadcasters, a research team from Adam Mickiewicz University’s Faculty of Political Science and Journalism in Poznan designed a two-stage re- search project, aiming to: (1) determine the nature (character) of the media broad- casts and publications relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, as produced by Polish media institutions, and (2) study their influence on the awareness and attitudes presented by the audience. The following publication is the result of the first stage of this planned research. Content analysis results will be presented, based on content of the leading Polish news sources: the two largest online news portals, and three national TV stations. The study was conducted during the so-called “first wave” of the Coronavirus, where the need for informational, educational and mobilisatory functions against the universal issue was particularly apparent. The analysis conducted by AMU’s research team serves also as a starting point for extended research concerned with the recipients of these broadcasts, results of which will be presented in a separate publication. This work discusses and studies the content of news media broadcasts – its character, applied cognitive frameworks and framing, sources of reported information, actors presented, as well as the evaluation and interpretation of the events on which they report. This publication contains four distinct chapters. The first one presets the as- sumptions and research aims adopted, as well as the methodology and the discus- sion of the research sample selection process. The second chapter presents the results of content analysis of online news outlets (onet.pl and wp.pl) studied. This is followed by a chapter presenting content analysis results of news items broad- casted on TVP1, TVN, and Polsat. In the fourth chapter, results presentation has been supplemented by particularly interesting insights from comparative analysis of the online media content vs. TV broadcasts. This comparative analysis serves to underline the observed similarities and differences in reporting across differ- ent types of media outlets. Moreover, this publication is to serve as a chronicle of Polish media institutions’ response and the narrative on the first weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic in Poland. The authors are convinced that it will be a useful source of information and a starting point for discussion on media broadcast and messaging, and, in a wider context, for evaluating the state of Polish news jour- nalism. The results can also serve other researchers to continue analysis based on media-produced content. This is even more important as all news media outlets devoted significant amounts of broadcast time to pandemic coverage, not only in strictly informational segments, but also in different types of programming (edito- rial, educational, event coverage, chronicles, etc.). 11 Chapter 1. Research aims, methodology, and sample selection Since the beginning of the 20th century, the media have played a particular role in social communication, but their importance is even greater in times of social threat and anxiety. This is because they are not only the source of information about actu- al and potential threats, but also because they shape the “pseudo-environment”, the irrational, and often egoistic, social-mental image of the world, which influences individual behaviours and decisions (Lippmann, 1922). 2020 saw SARS-CoV-2 virus-induced pandemic as the main source of global threat, and thus reports on the new virus virant have dominated both mainstream and local media. Despite the establishment of the Polish government’s official informational policy,1 it was the media who were the main (and often the only) source of information on the number of cases, deaths, and various safety procedures and regulations introduced across the nation at the height of the pandemic. Research conducted by Publicon agency and Press-Service Media Monitoring found that between mid-January and mid-March 2020, traditional media broad- casted/published over 235,000 reports on SARS-CoV-2 and the consequences of it spreading, and social media saw over 1.1 million posts on the topic (Publicon, Press Service 2020: 5). The sheer volume of media communications in such a short period of time, in the midst of a situation deemed life-threatening, makes qualita- tive content analysis of the media broadcasts particularly prudent and interesting. These unprecedented conditions could have had a significant influence on both the quality and reliability of published content, as well as social moods and actions, as media audiences were faced with a huge volume of information, often conflicting or incomplete. At the same time, these same audiences, who face a threat to their health and life, need to feel they are informed about this threat in a reliable way. This situa- tion puts the spotlight on news media, which should act according to professional standards, as they are responsible for providing reliable information to the public. Media broadcasts and publications play a significant role in shaping public opinion (Czyżewski et al., 2010; Noelle-Neuman, 2004), and in the case of the Covid-19 1  The government’s informational policy included creating subsections of government web- sites (such as: www.gov.pl/web/koronawirus), distribution of leaflets directly to citizens’ postbox- es, distribution of posters in public spaces, and a direct campaign with participation from police officers and municipal police officers (from Straż Miejska, municipal police). 12 pandemic, in shaping attitudes towards restrictions, legitimation of government actions, and calming or inflaming the panic. Project objectives The main objective of this project is to analyse media communications in main- stream news media in times of Covid-19 pandemic and, at a later stage which will be finalised in a distinct publication, to verify the influence of the broadcasts on social moods and behaviours. The aim of this research is diagnostic in nature. The end result is the knowledge database on the character of media broadcasting during Poland’s first wave of coronavirus infections. Materials collected were analysed, both quantitatively and qualitatively, in order to determine the manner in which Polish media reported on the pandemic over its course. The main objective can be further divided into specific objectives, relating to particular elements of research materials. The first specific objective was to determine the character of the news coverage – whether they were informative or persuasive, rational or emotional in nature. This is an important research question as it allows a determination of the general direction of pandemic converge, which could serve as the basis for con- clusions relating to the “temperature” of public debate, not only with regards to the virus threat, but also more generally, with regards to restrictions, lockdowns, freezing of particular branches of the economy, or systemic support for entrepre- neurs. The second specific objective focuses on determining who was given more attention in pandemic news coverage. The associated research question delves into which media actors were given the most exposure – was it politicians (with what affiliation?), or was it medical professionals, doctors, experts, and scientists? This exposure directly relates to what categories of public actors are deemed the most important in context of the global health crisis by these media institutions. The third specific objective was to determine the sources of information presented by the research media. Narratives built on unverified and uncertain sources can be a massive threat to the reliability of this information, and indicate a lack of journal- istic professionalism; professionalism which has become a necessary condition for the accurate and reliable informing of society. Moreover, another specific research objective was to verify and determine the variability of information as presented in TV and online media. The associated research questions were as follows. Was the narrative across media sources cohesive, and if not – what were the biggest differences in TV coverage vs. online coverage? Could the observed differences influence the social reception of covered events and specific stages of the public health crisis? The research presented took into consideration cognitive frameworks employed by news media to build their messaging. The goal of this part of the categorisation key was to determine the context in which the pandemic coverage appeared. The research team adopted a preliminary hypothesis, based on initial 13 observation of the media, stating that media coverage on the Covid-19 pandemic featured significant differences in portrayal and evaluation of the course of the pandemic and government’s response, and knowledge and social awareness gener- ated by Poland’s leading news broadcasters can significantly differ depending on the medium chosen by the recipient. These differences stem from the various status of the media, the current political situation in Poland, and political parallelism which has formed over recent years. This relates mostly to Poland’s public broad- caster (TVP), which is closely aligned with the party in power. The idea of paral- lelism supports a supposition that private broadcasters will in turn tend to be more critical with regards to evaluating and interpreting crisis management during the pandemic. This approach, coupled with the diagnostic objective of this research, allowed for the design of the categorisation key and the use of other tools required for its implementation. Research methodology A hybrid approach, combining quantitative and qualitative research techniques for content analysis, was employed to conduct this research on mainstream Pol- ish media, online and broadcasted on television. Research categories common to both types of media were adopted, and the categorisation key was designed to fit content analysis of the entirety of collected source material. Source material was analysed both quantitatively (number of broadcasts, territoriality, the charac- ter/manner of messaging, quoted (re)sources, actors featured), and qualitatively (narrative framing, language of messaging, the political agenda of the medium, the image/view of the world as presented in the coverage). Content analysis was performed on the main editions of nation-wide general news broadcasts, namely TVN’s Fakty (“Facts”), Polsat’s Wydarzenia (“Events”), and TVP1’s Wiadomości (“News”).2 The sample excluded broadcasts from dedicated news stations that are aligned with the main networks, such as TVN24, Polsat News, TVP2 and TVP Info, because of their small market share in comparison. The TV stations in the sample were determined based on the National Broadcasting Council3’s report on 2  TVN is a private television station launched in 1997. Originally founded by Polish entrepre- neurs, it is now part of the Discovery group. The profile of the station may be described as liberal. News programs broadcasted by TVN are considered as critical of the current government. Polsat is the first private broadcaster to obtain a license in Poland after the political transfor- mation – it started broadcasting in 1992. The owner of the station is a Polish businessman, Zyg- munt Solorz-Żak. The political profile of the station can be described as neutral – journalists rarely decide to openly criticize the authorities and the parliamentary opposition. TVP is a public broadcaster with strong ties to the government. Current chairman of the station is a former member of the ruling party, Jacek Kurski. 3  National Broadcasting Council, Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji (KRRiT) – Polish me- dia regulatory body. 14 changes in programming and media’s adaptation activities relating to the COV- ID-19 pandemic (KRRiT, 2020). Content analysis of the online publications was conducted on a sample sourced from Poland’s two biggest news portals, namely Onet.pl and Wp.pl. These portals’ landing pages are the leaders in media reach, with average total readership between the two amounting to 21 million Poles (Wp.pl with a smaller advantage over Onet …, 2019). Moreover, both sites often top rankings as Poland’s most influential and opinion-forming online media (Onet is the most opinion-forming medium…, 2021). The audiovisual source material collection, creation of a complete database, and the consequent analysis were re- alised through AMU WNPiD’s proprietary software, Content Analysis System for Television (CAST).4 CAST is a software allowing for the archiving and analysis of TV broadcasts, both satellite and terrestrial. Source materials were collected using the software, focusing on news containing the keywords: “covid”, “pandemic”, “coronavirus”, “epidemic”, and “SARS-Cov-2”. Material collected was then ana- lysed using the categorisation key. Similar processes were involved with online publications, where materials from onet.pl and wp.pl landing pages were analysed. Here articles highlighted by publishers, featured in the main news sections, were taken into consideration when collecting the sample. Source material was analysed in the following cat- egories: message character (persuasive, informative, rational, emotional5), general tone of coverage (as it relates to the situation in the country: positive, negative, ambivalent, neutral), proportion and relation of facts and opinions in a broadcast/ publication, category of actors featured, and cognitive framing used by the broad- casters/publishers. Traditional media frames (Entman, 2004), constructed based on Entman’s analysis of media political communication coverage, were used to interpret the messaging. Deduction was used to reconstruct the frames accord- ingly. Messages were analysed to determine the presence of the following frames: conflict, attribution of responsibility, consequence, morality, and human interest (ibid.). It is particularly prudent, in light of this research, to study and follow the specific stages of the development of the pandemic, especially in its early stages. Undoubtedly, an event this paramount, universal and affecting so many areas of the public and private lives of citizens has been a tremendous adaptive challenge for all. This sudden change in the situation and conditions people face in their daily lives made the communication strategy and transparency of government a key is- 4  More on CAST: https://wnpid.amu.edu.pl/en/home/cast. 5  In the coding process, each news item was marked on two axes with opposite values: ra- tional – emotional, and informative – persuasive. Emotional category was coded for content domi- nated by language related to the expression of feelings (e.g. “we are all afraid of the virus,” “we can’t stand it anymore.”). In the rational category, content related to facts or devoid of expression was coded. In the second axis, news items focused on reporting events and their developments were coded as infor- mational. Persuasive category was used for content in which statements aimed at viewers were included, calling for specific social behavior (e.g. “stay at home”, “go vote in the elections”). 15 sue, as it is the government’s direct responsibility to act during the time of crisis for its citizens. These circumstances make the early stage of the pandemic, when crucial decisions about public life were made (closing down of schools and busi- nesses, movement restrictions and lockdown, social distancing and face coverings being required) a turning point for the entire society. On the one hand, Poles were facing a new and uncomfortable threat, and on the other, restrictions limiting their civic freedoms. Social reception of these events was majorly determined by the communication processes between the government and its people, where mass media play a key role. Media content analysis included content analysis of specific segments of main news broadcasts from Poland’s leading broadcasters (TVP, Polsat, TVN), and of Poland’s two most-read online publications (Onet.pl and Wp.pl). Because sample selection was of particular importance, the research team decided to reconstruct the timeline of the first few months of the pandemic in Poland, and based on the timeline created, indicated key events which determined media narrative in a sig- nificant way, and as such played a big role in social mood and attitudes. Sample selection timeline – early 2020 The first reports on a new type of contagious virus causing pneumonia are cur- rently dated at mid-December 2019 and concerned employees from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan (Parry, 2020). It is worth noting that experts monitoring the situation have already raised concerns about the unusual course of the disease, its contagiousness, and difficulty in acquiring reliable information on the topic back when the reports started (ibid.). The Chinese government informed the global public about a new type of virus by the end of 2019, and 8 January saw Chinese scientists proclaiming a hitherto unknown strain of coronavirus (named SARS-CoV-2 thanks to its similarity to the known SARS virus) is responsible for the new disease. The following day, 9 January 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the information about a new coronavirus. By the end of January the new virus had already spread outside of China, reaching over a dozen Asian countries (incl. Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore), as well as Europe (France, Finland, the UK, Spain, Germany, Sweden). The virus had also reached the US, Canada and Australia (Coronavirus. Day by day…, 2021). Janu- ary saw almost 10,000 cases in total, with 213 deaths recorded (ibid.).February 2020 featured reports on coronavirus mainly in the context of China and its fight against the virus spreading in Hubei Province and Wuhan city. It was not until mid- February when the topic of actual threat from the new disease started to regularly appear in Polish media, prompted by reports from Italy. The sudden increase in infections in Lombardy, where 59 new cases were reported on February 22, made Italy the headline as the country most troubled by the epidemic. The total numbers 16 for Covid-19 infections in February 2020 were 87,000 cases and 3,000 deaths (ibid.). February was a particularly confusing time for those trying to make sense of the world. On the one hand, there were mounting reports of this “new threat from China”; on the other, Poland continued to be outside of this threat’s reach. This meant that, to Poles, coronavirus seemed to be a distant and unreal threat in the first two months of 2020. However, the situation changed drastically (and dy- namically) as soon as March, when SARS-CoV-2 reached Poland. In line with research objectives, the research team decided not to include any broadcasts/publications prior to Covid-19’s arrival in Poland in the research sam- ple. The first two months of 2020 were not dominated by pandemic-related cover- age, and as such analysing media content from that time is not particularly prudent to the research objective.6 This conclusion is also supported by public opinion surveys, published monthly by Kantar, relating to social mood in Poland. Data from the 1st quarter of 2020 (2020Q1) do not indicate any significant changes, and the general reception of “state of the union”/“current affairs” did not change: 40% of respondents viewed the current situation as positive, with a similar percentage viewing it negatively (Kantar, 2020a: 3; 2020b: 3; 2020c: 3). A significant change came in the April survey, when 53% of respondents judged the situation in Poland negatively (Kantar, 2020d: 3). Public opinion surveys confirm that the intensifi- cation of pandemic coverage began in the first weeks of March, when the virus reached Poland. Timeline – March 2020 The unfolding events of March 2020 kick-started the aforementioned process of citizens adapting to the new health threat. Poland reported its first infection case on March 4, when a 66 year old patient from Lubusz Voivodeship was diagnosed (First case of the coronavirus in Poland…, 2020). This was announced by then- Minister of Health, Łukasz Szumowski, at a press conference. March 4 is the key date for the research perspective adopted, as it is a direct starting point for the epidemic in Poland. March 10 saw the government introducing the first restrictions in public spaces, cancelling all mass events across the country (The Government Crisis Management Team Made decided…, 2020). The following day, March 11, featured two significant events. Firstly, WHO announced a state of SARS-COV- iD-2 global pandemic (WHO chief: coronavirus is a pandemic, 2020). Secondly, the government decided to issue a regulation suspending the functioning of edu- cational facilities (schools and higher education) (Regulation of the Ministry of National Education from 11 March 2020). This regulation in particular changed 6  However, it needs to be noted that media content analysis relating to coverage before the pandemic erupted in Europe and Poland can yield some very interesting results in a different re- search perspective, distinct to the one adopted in this work. 17 the daily lives of Poles, as they were faced with providing educational support to their children. Simultaneously, educational facilities faced the challenge to reor- ganise work and adapt to new conditions. This was widely commented upon in public discourse, and as it later turned out, was just the beginning, with much more severe restrictions and regulations to come. On March 13, the Ministry of Health issued a regulation declaring the state of epidemiological threat in the country (Regulation of the Minister of Health from 13 March 2020). The act introduced, amongst others, obligatory quarantine for people coming from abroad, suspension of international rail connections, and banned all gatherings of over 50 people. The regulation was introduced on the basis of the Act on preventing and combating infection and infectious diseases from 5 December 2008 (Act from 5 December 2008). The regulation issued on March 13, with multiple consequent changes and harmonisation, has served as the main legal basis for restrictions until today. The situation evolved with growing numbers of reported cases across the country. By March 17, the virus reached all Polish voivodeships (first reported case in Pod- laskie Voivodeship), and the Ministry of Health reported a total of 235 cases. At that point, 2 people in Poland had died as a result of Covid-19. On 20 March 2020, the Ministry of National Education issued another regulation, which provided a set of regulations concerning schools’ duties related to organising education activity remotely (Regulation of the Ministry of National Education from 20 March 2020). The following day, the number of total cases in Poland surpassed 500. On March 24, a day after the number of daily new reported cases surpassed 1007, the gov- ernment, based on the regulation on the state of epidemic emergency, introduced severe restrictions on movement. These meant that freedom of movement would be further restricted to only three instances (1) commuting to work, (2) commut- ing in relation to perform volunteer duties in order to prevent COVID-19, and (3) leaving home only to run the most necessary daily life errands (Regulation of the Minister of Health from 20 March 2020). It needs to be highlighted that these regulations became the subject of national public debate, in part relating to their legality and legal basis (see: e.g. Turek, 2020; Parkitna, 2020; Kwaśniewski et al., 2020). The end of March 2020 was determined by the ever increasing number of new infections (257 on 31 March 2020), and the looming presidential elections, initially planned for May 10th. First mentions of a universal postal vote reached the public by onet.pl’s reports (Jurasz, Gajcy, 2020). By the end of March, Poland had 2311 reported cases and 2 deaths linked to the coronavirus. This prompted the government to introduce further restrictions on March 31, including specific limits on persons in public spaces, such as the number of people in a grocery store, a ban on entering parks, or social distancing rules at work (Regulation of the Council of Ministers from 31 March 2020). In light of such far-reaching changes in daily life, it seems particularly prudent to study the framing of media coverage. This is why 7  All data on Covid-19 cases reported in Poland comes based on information published on the Ministry of Health’s twitter account (twitter.com/MZ_GOV_PL). 18 this period of time was of particular interest to researchers and was selected as part of the research sample. Timeline – April and May 2020 The beginning of April was marked by the upcoming Easter holidays, taking place on the 12th and 13th of the month. Potential postal voting in the upcoming presi- dential election was also extensively featured in public debate, with various inter- pretations and commentary from the experts, however the pandemic was still the dominant topic. The number of daily new reported cases kept rising, with April 5 marking a then-record of 475 new cases, and two days ;;;;later the number fell to 435. As the pandemic situation evolved, the nation awaited further decisions from the government. Finally, on April 9, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki an- nounced the prolonging of the restrictions currently in place until April 26 (Prime Minister: we are extending the restrictions…, 2020). The second half of April brought the announcement of extensive support for entrepreneurs (the anti-crisis shield), and the future loosening of restrictions, announced by the PM at the press conference on April 16. The government prepared a four-stage restriction lifting plan, with the first stage to start on April 20. The post-Easter period was special in the context of the debate and information surrounding the course of the pandemic in Poland. The government decided to ease present restrictions, and the media increasingly featured the topic of the upcoming presidential elections. Only a day after the announced changes in restrictions, on April 16, Minister Szumowski pub- lished his recommendations on the elections, claiming that in-person elections will be possible “in 2 years the earliest”, and thus advocated for conducting “safe” postal elections (Romanek, 2020). The first stage of restriction easing started on April 20, when people were permitted to leave their homes, e.g. for recreation. It needs to be noted that late April 2020 was when the number of new daily cases stabilised at around 300–350, marking this period as the first (since the pandemic began) when the number of new daily cases was not growing. The first days of May saw the number of daily new cases (as reported by the Ministry of Health) dropping below 300, and on May 4 the government introduced the 2nd stage of restriction easing, and hotels and malls were reopened. Public opinion was con- cerned with not only the pandemic situation (with Śląsk reporting record numbers of new cases), but also with the heated political debate surrounding the presiden- tial elections. Ultimately, the presidential elections planned for May 10 did not take place, and the National Electoral Commission8 stated the impossibility of the elections taking place as there was “lack of possibility to vote for the candidates” (Resolution no. 129/2020 PKW from 10 May 2020). 8  National Electoral Commission, pl. Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza (PKW). 19 Topics related to Easter and electoral debate seemed to tone down the social anxiety relating to the pandemic threat. These issues allowed Poles to take a differ- ent perspective on the pandemic, and its “novelty” and “unpredictability” wore off with time. This was further supported by the number of new daily cases remaining constant in Poland (around 300–400). Government actions also influenced this relaxation of attitudes towards the pandemic. The government announced the 3rd stage of restriction easing on May 13, with plans to reopen hair salons (from May 18), and for middle-school children (aged 6–10) to return to school from May 25. These announcements significantly influenced the perception of the pandemic, and mitigated social discomfort associated with the first dozens of weeks of its evolution. According to the authors of this research, the initial stages of restriction easing could serve as a final point of the process of informing citizens and their consequent adaptation to the new (pandemic) reality. The research objective of this project is to study whether the media coverage during the course of the pandemic evoked feelings of anxiety, fear, or disinformation amongst the audience. Suppos- ing that the novelty effect and the dynamic development of the new threat in the first months of its existence is key to executing this research objective, the research team decided to include the aforementioned (crucial) period in the content analysis sample. Taking into consideration the above-mentioned and discussed events, and the associated dates, the following timeline was adopted, as presented in Table 1. Based on the volume of content generated following the events, it was decided that the research sample would cover coverage including aforementioned keywords from the day of the announcement and the two days following. Table 1. Media content analysis – sample selection timeline Date Event Research sample 4 March First reported case of Covid-19 infection 4–6 March 11 March Decision to close schools and higher education institutions 11–13 March 14 March Declaration of the state of epidemic emergency 14–16 March 24 March Introduction of the first restrictions on free movement 24–26 March 31 March More restrictions: closing parks, hotels, introducing quantitative lim- its on persons at premises, ordering 2-metre social distance 31 March – 2 April 9 April Extension of the restrictions until 26 April 9–11 April 16 April Obligation to cover mouth and nose introduced, announcing soon-to- come restriction easing 16–19 April 20 April 1st stage of restrictions easing, recreational outings permitted 20–22 April 4 April 2nd stage of restriction easing, hotels and malls permitted to open 4–6 May 10 May National Electoral Commission’s resolution on impossibility to vote in presidential elections 10–12 May 13 May 3rd stage of restrictions easing, announcement to reopen hair and beauty salons, return of young middle schoolers (aged 6–10) to school 13–15 May Source: Authors. Media content analysis conducted includes coverage from 5 media publish- ers (3 TV broadcasters and 2 online news sites), published on a given date (see: Table 1) and the two following days. This stems from the necessity to capture the entirety of media discourse relating to a given event/date. The sample selection reflects media narratives on the course of the pandemic in Poland, and includes other important topics appearing in the public debate at that time. Thus, the authors believe that the research sample adopted is an effective representation of the media coverage in the given time period. The following chapters of this publication present the results of content analy- sis performed on the source materials, with the discussion corresponding to cat- egories as defined in the key used for media content analysis. All key categories have been supplemented by a graphical presentation of the results. The discussion follows the structure of three parts, corresponding to the study’s three stages. The first part discusses content analysis results for online media, and the second – tel- evision. Both discussions come together in online vs. TV comparative analysis, as performed in part three of this work. 21 Chapter 2. Content analysis of online news outlets 568 online news articles, published by onet.pl and wp.pl, were analysed in the course of this study on national news broadcasters. Because of the nature of online portals – high volume of published content, updating of already published con- tent, and frequent changes in their agenda – purposive sampling was employed for sample selection. The following verification methods were used: only materials featured in the sidebar entitled “News” (or similarly) on the relevant (specified in the timeline table) days were selected.9 In order to maintain cohesion relative to the simultaneously analysed TV ma- terials, only articles featured in the sidebar around 6 PM (afternoon time) were selected. The purposive sample included 342 news items from wp.pl and 226 news items from onet.pl. The notable difference in volume stems mainly from the capac- ity of sites’ sidebars – wp.pl displays 20 titles, and onet.pl, 16. The amount of pub- lished content relating to SARS-CoV-2 virus changed according to the changing situation within the country – as the number of active cases and deaths increased, so did the coverage. Moreover, it was additionally determined by the politically- charged events, such as the adaptation of Poland’s public life to the plans and preparations made for presidential elections.10 Figure 1 features the coverage and timeline of the sample. 9  In Poland, mainstream TV stations broadcast main news editions at the following times: Polsat – “Wydarzenia” at 18:50, TVN – “Fakty” at 19:00, and TVP1 – “Wiadomości” at 19:30. 10  The Republic of Poland’s Presidential Elections were supposed to take place on May 10, 2020. As a result of appeals from scientific circles and then-Ombudsman Adam Bodnar to post- pone the elections as they could not have been carried out without a threat to public health and lives, on April 6, 2020 the Polish Sejm saw an Act on postal elections submitted, and conse- quently passed in a vote on the same day (Dz. U. 2020, item 827), however rejected later on by the Senate. The National Electoral Committee passed a resolution on the impossibility to vote in presidential elections (Dz. U. 2020, item 967) on May 10, 2020. Ultimately, the President signed a new temporary law on 2 June on “Special regulations for general elections of the President of the Republic of Poland ordered in 2020 with the possibility of postal voting” governing the presidential election (Dz. U. 2020, item 979). The new election date was set by the Sejm Marshall to be June 28, 2020 (Dz. U. 2020, item 988). See more on 2020 Polish Presidential Elections in Piontek and Ossowski (2020). Note: Dz. U. 2020, item X – means an Act published in the Polish Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw, Dz. U.) for 2020, with the item number specifying the location of the Act within the Journal of Laws. 22 Figure 1. Number of daily articles on COVID-19 (Wp.pl and Onet.pl total n=568) Source: Authors. The character and subject matter The content analysis conducted verified the content of news items in terms of the character of coverage. Traditional division considering eight basic categories was used. These included the following types of messaging: emotional, rational, emotional-rational, rational-emotional, informative, persuasive, informative-per- suasive and persuasive-informative (as described in the Introduction). The analysis entailed verifying source materials in two categories (on two axes) – emotional- rational and informative-persuasive. When looking at all news items, most of the publications from onet.pl and wp.pl were rational-informative in nature. When judged against a scale that cap- tures the two categories evenly ( emotional-rational n=568, informative-persuasive n=568), there is a dominance of rational (55.11%) and rational-emotional (25%) communication in the first category, and a dominance of informative (61.44%) and informative-persuasive (26.94%) in the latter (see Table 2). 23 Table 2. The character of the COVID-19 pandemic coverage, total (Wp.pl and Onet.pl) Emotional-rational axis (n=568) Emotional   3.70% Rational 55.11% Emotional-rational 16.20% Rational-emotional 25.00% Informative-persuasive axis (n=568) Informative 61.44% Persuasive   5.63% Informative-persuasive 26.94% Persuasive-informative   5.99% Source: Suthors. Verification of each individual site’s (Wp and Onet) coverage showed similar results and a significant level of sentiment (character) alignment. The only signifi- cant differences were found in the rational dimension, which presented a difference of over 12 percentage points. Onet.pl’s coverage was 62.83% rational, and Wp.pl’s – only 50%. Figure 2 presents the distribution of the character of coverage. Figure 2. The character of the COVID-19 pandemic coverage, % (Wp.pl and Onet.pl) Source: Authors. 24 Analysed materials dealt with the government’s decisions, including restric- tions (25.18%), the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland (21.13%), the course of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world (19.89%), and human interest stories (19.72%). Materials containing political context were also noticeable as it featured in over 27% of source materials, relating to: current affairs (9.15%), eco- nomic affairs and entrepreneur-dedicated financial support programmes (“shields”) (5.11%), and the then-upcoming presidential elections (13.03%). Information on SARS-CoV-2 etiology or the course of the disease constituted around a mere 13% of coverage. Figure 3. Leading topics in COVID-19 coverage on Onet.pl and Wp.pl (in %) Source: Authors. The online portals researched did not exhibit much significant differentiation in topic distribution in percentage terms. The only notable difference between them was in general political coverage (current affairs, government “shields” and presidential elections), which was much more common at wp.pl (31.58% of the research sample), than at onet.pl (20.8%). The vast majority of news items reported on contemporaneous developments of the reported events (60.56%). Projections (forecasts) for the development of the 25 pandemic in Poland or abroad were part of just 9.68% of reports, with past events depicted in 29.75% of coverage. Data presented on Figure 4 highlights that future- orientation (epidemic prognostics) were more common at onet.pl and dealt mostly with the pandemic development abroad. Figure 4. Forecasts on the development of the epidemic in Poland and abroad, Onet.pl and Wp.pl (in %) Source: Authors. The vast majority of published news items (72.36%) were characterised by a negative sentiment towards the COVID-19 pandemic, with just 15.85% present- ing as positive. The latter usually related to human interest stories (16.67%) of the so-called “convalescents” who managed to come back from COVID-19 induced illness, implementation of the government shields for entrepreneurs (12.22%), lockdown restriction easing (18.89%), or a variety of medical information on the 26 search for the cure or the vaccine for COVID-19 (27.78%), seemingly indicating the soon to come end of the epidemic and an improvement of the situation in the country. Figure 5. Leading topics in news items published on onet.pl and wp.pl and their senti- ment (in %) Source: Authors. Content analysis regarding the construction of media messaging based on facts and opinions have not revealed any dominants. 38.20% were majorly fact-based, 26.94% – opinion-based, and 34.68% contained both. Distribution by source indi- cates that wp.pl news items were more fact-based (41.23%) than ones published on onet.pl (33.63%). 27 Actors, general sentiment, facts and opinions present in broadcasts The vast majority of speakers providing information on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic were the ruling coalition politicians and Poland’s President Andrzej Duda11 (34.15%), and a variety of national and international organisations’ representatives (32.22%). Less than 10% (9.68%) of coverage fea- tured medical professionals, and less than 9% (8.80%) featured experts, such as people representing the scientific method or epidemiologists. Even a common citizen was more frequently featured in coverage than medical personnel, with 14.61% of news items featuring “regular citizens” and 14.97% people infected with SARS-CoV-2.12 Figure 6. General sentiment expressed in the COVID-19 pandemic coverage and the featuring of particular actors (in %) Source: Authors. 11  The current President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, should not, according to Poland’s Constitution (art. 132), hold any other public function or be part of any other (public) office. However, the way the President has chosen to perform his duties, in the authors’ opinion, leaves no doubt that it has become a political office. Mr Duda, before his presidential victory, was a well-known Law and Justice (the party currently in power) member, and during his 1st term (2015–2020) displayed his political sympathies on numerous occasions. This is why the research team has decided to assign a political inclination to the President’s public statements. 12  “Regular citizens”, “coronavirus victims”, and “infected persons” were distinct sets of peo- ple, meaning they did not necessarily cross over. 28 Some interesting results were revealed when putting together the percentage distribution of the sentiments across the research sample and considering front stage actors featured in a given article (Figure 6). A significant negative skew was noted amongst all speakers speaking on the coronavirus and COVID-19 (74% av- erage). Conversely, a positive sentiment was found in the same groups in 12–23% of news items. Ambivalent sentiment was found in between 3.8% and 12.8% of coverage. The rarest was neutrality, identified in between 1.2% and 6.12% of news items. The highest degree of negativity was present in materials featuring coronavirus victims and statements from infected persons. This group was also characterised by the lowest percentage value of positive messaging (1.27%). The actors’ statements usually included their experiences directly facing the disease and the accompany- ing emotions; their opinions on government restrictions and the resulting sanctions for disobeying them; as well as public appeals to the lawmakers for support and financial help to cover losses stemming from lockdown. The lowest degree of neg- ativity was present in articles featuring statements from the governing party politi- cians and Poland’s President (68%). Simultaneously, this group featured a higher degree of ambivalence (present in 10.8% of coverage) and a relatively high degree of positive sentiment (17%). This is a direct result of the governing coalitions’s strategy of “rhetoric of success” in public discourse, evidenced by numerous in- stances of statements from government representatives depicting Poland as the “green island” of the pandemic – with the lowest number of infections, a fully prepared (staff and infrastructure wise) public health system, and the readiness to spend various amounts of money to fight the pandemic and its consequences. The attempts to maintain a positive outlook on the situation were meant to calm social moods, project a sense of control over the national situation and create a space to conduct the presidential elections. Naturally, some of the aspects commented on by the government officials referred to COVID-19 either directly or indirectly. In terms of opposition politicians, the degree of negativity was relatively higher and present in 77.5% of news items, with positive sentiment expressed in 12.2%. The restraint in expressing positivity in terms of the situation in the country is expected from the opposition, as it is its natural political role. A high proportion of positive materials (21.8%) was noted in content featuring medical professionals (doctors and first responders). Positive messages related mostly to medical profes- sionals talking about the number of convalescents, medication alleviating some of the COVID-19 symptoms, and expressing gratitude for citizens and entrepreneurs uniting in support for them, by delivering them food and small basic need items, such as personal protection equipment, or even oxygen tanks. The height of emo- tions and polarisation of the social mood led over 70% of negative messaging to lack cohesion and include some positive statements referring to other aspects of fighting against the pandemic. This can be exemplified by an article which featured medical professionals thanking the public for the help and support they received, 29 simultaneously appealing to the government to take note of the lack of equipment and staffing, and the conditions they are forced to work in. Framing pandemic news, consequences of the pandemic in sampled broadcasts In order to define the framing in which the development of a pandemic is set in the selected media, Entman’s (2004) concept of cognitive framing was employed. The deductive method (Gamson et al., 2003) was used to reconstruct the frames. The general frames – conflict, attribution of responsibility, consequence, morality, and human interest – were used in analysis, which was presented in the introduction of this paper. The consequence frame dominated (45.25%) the research sample. It included various consequences, divided into five categories (Figure 7). The sample most often featured social consequences (54.23%), relating to both individuals and large social groups. Medical consequences, relating usually to convalescents or (in)di- rect actions and behaviours stemming from the pandemic, were equally popular (51.23%). Political consequences ranked third (26.23%) and related to the gov- ernment vs. the opposition debate on what decisions are being made in a crisis situation. The consequence frame was further evidenced by messaging relating to Poland’s image and position in the world in relation to the pandemic-related deci- sions made. The third category, of similar popularity to the previous one (24.13%), were the economic consequences, stemming directly from lockdown restrictions and the resulting disobeying of the sanctions. The last category, by far the least relevant, was the cultural consequences (11.44%), which came from various lock- down-related measures, such as limited access to religious practice, cancellation of mass and cultural events, and shutting down of cinemas and theatres, amongst others. Social consequences were the most prominent out of all consequence catego- ries. Analysed articles featured this framing in relation to restricting civil liberties by mandating quarantine, temporary jail sentences for breaking quarantine, and limiting people’s contact with their friends and relatives, but also in relation to increased racist behaviours aimed at particular social groups – doctors, medical personnel, or specific nationalities (of Asian origin). The second category covered such events as death from coronavirus, hospitalisation, mental health issues, ra- cially motivated assaults,13 or even homicides resulting from self-isolation. Political consequences were a category including, amongst others, government spending, such as irregularities relating to medical equipment purchases (respira- 13  Racially motivated assaults were an indirect effect of the pandemic and resulted from some citizens being convinced that people of Asian origin in Poland had an influence on the develop- ment of the pandemic in the country. 30 tors and PPE),14 which was an international scandal that has not been resolved until this very day. All political decisions were directly motivated by potential economic consequences. They dealt with, for instance, possible worsening of citizens’ finan- cial situation resulting from layoffs, restrictions on some industries, or additional costs incurred in order to facilitate remote work. Economic consequence framing appeared also in messaging portraying entrepreneurs facing lockdown or tempo- rary restrictions as per government decisions as victims. Moreover, it appeared also in coverage relating to a variety of punishments and fines for disobeying the sanitary regime, from refusing to cover your mouth and nose, through different degrees of large gatherings against the law, to refusing to shut down a business in lockdown. The cultural consequences of the pandemic related mostly to restrictions in ac- cess to places of religious observance, cancellation of cultural and sports events, and impossibility to consume food in restaurants, relax in hotels, and partake in a variety of leisure activities, including bans on outside playgrounds and gymna- siums. Figure 7. Indications of pandemic’s consequences in articles published on Onet.pl and Wp.pl (in %) Source: authors. Conflict frames (26.06%) and human stories (23.06%) had a similar frequency of occurrence in analysed articles. Figure 8 presents particular cognitive frames in relation to the main featured actors in analysed samples. The aforementioned conflict frame most often featured messages with the governing party or opposi- tion politicians and representatives of state or global organisations as main actors, often focused on shifting blame around for the current situation and decisions/ 14  The Ministry of Health, then headed by the Minister of Health Łukasz Szumowski, ordered 1200 respirators from E&K, a company known for arms dealing. The public order cost the public PLN 130 million, and according to information from the Material Reserves Agency, only 50 res- pirators were actually delivered (Solska, 2020). 31 Figure 8. Cognitive frames occurring in articles on COVID-19 published on Onet.pl and Wp.pl and the main actors featured (in %) Source: Authors. 32 actions taken. Opposition politicians in particular focused on public funds mis- management (the aforementioned respirators scandal); introducing illegal legisla- tive acts;15 restriction easing in order to facilitate presidential elections; delays in ordering medical equipment; decrying measures related to closing the borders; or decrying the Polish representatives’ trip to commemorate the Smolensk crash on its anniversary.16 On the other hand, ruling coalition politicians blamed the opposi- tion for lack of will to cooperate on dealing with the pandemic (or even aggravat- ing the threat), seemingly exemplified by the actions of Warsaw’s Mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski.17 Only 1.75% of all frames could be classified as moralising, most often in ma- terials featuring government’s and experts’ appeals for respecting the restrictions and promoting safe behaviours, simultaneously condemning breaches. Some state- ments were also critical of the government, in relation to the planned political delegation to Smolensk; the will to organise presidential elections in the pandemic (and thus restriction easing), which led to people gathering in large crowds by queueing in front of stores; and the rash and ill-conceived restrictions without specifics, oftentimes illegal in the eyes of Polish law. The human story frame was most often featured in materials focused on regular citizens. Those were portrayed as coronavirus victims or their families, or victims of the restrictions on the normal way of life (running a business included) intro- duced by the Polish government. It is worth noting that this frame was also part of articles featuring various national and world officials as main actors, where they were positioned as persons to explain the surrounding reality and in some way justify the actions taken by decision makers. Such cases offered a juxtaposition 15  The highest source of law in Poland is the Constitution. Freedoms that come exclusively from its text are the basic freedoms (including the freedom of movement) and cannot be limited by Acts or Laws which are lower in the Polish legal hierarchy. The situation could be changed by the introduction of one of the states of emergency which legally mandate some restrictions of civic freedoms in order to manage the situation within the country. However, such a decision was not made, and the restrictions were introduced as Acts and then a Law. This led to many conflicts relating to the legality of such decisions in light of lack of a state of emergency declaration. 16  April 10, 2010 saw the crash of TU-154M, an official government plane, in the proximity of Smolensk North Airport near Smolensk, Russia. On board were the representatives of Poland on route to commemorate the anniversary of Katyn Massacre, including Poland’s President Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria, Ryszard Kaczorowski, a former President-in-exile, chief com- manders of the Polish army, members of the parliament, senators, Church dignitaries, and officials, 96 persons in total (Rogoż, 2011, pp. 11–25). The ruling party planned a commemorative trip for the tenth anniversary (like every year), although ultimately decided not to go through with it. 17  Rafał Trzaskowski (Mayor of Warsaw since 2018) was one of the candidates for the office of the President of the Republic of Poland in the 2020 presidential elections (official results avail- able at: https://prezydent20200628.pkw.gov.pl/prezydent20200628/). Trzaskowski, as a result of his decision to change public transport timetables during COVID-19 pandemic, was accused by the ruling party politicians that he “is looking to save money on the coronavirus and is risking Varsovians getting infected by introducing weekend timetable during the week” (Crowded com- munication in Warsaw…, 2020). 33 of regular citizens’ perspective and the government’s actions and expert advice, which related to a much greater scale. Responsibility frames were most often found in articles quoting national and global officials and representatives of world organisations. Their statements re- ferred to blame attribution for the pandemic outbreak (most often blaming China and the city of Wuhan); pandemic spread (blaming world leaders who decided against a complete lockdown); tardiness in introducing restrictions, or converse- ly, overeagerness to close the national borders; and the inefficiency of the en- tire health system, amongst others. Content analysis focused on the responsibility frame allowed for research of such articles where main actors (in this case, Roman Catholic priests) blamed particular social groups and individuals for the situation, as evidenced by this statement: “The epidemic is God’s punishment for living in Sin: for homosexuality, for unmarried couples living together, and for those who murder unborn children” (Pajączek, 2020). Geographical location and the sentiment of broadcasts The research sample focused mostly on the situation in Poland (67.02% publica- tions), with foreign reports accounting for 29.63%. When comparing geography and sentiment, there turned out to be a higher proportion of negative messaging when reporting on events from abroad (Figure 9). When considering the same var- iables, no significant differentiation across the portals was found. However, when it comes to coverage of Polish events, onet.pl featured more negative content. It is worth noting that the negative sentiments expressed in news on events abroad often stemmed from the depiction of particular territories as sources of pandemic outbreaks, and thus – a threat to Poles and Poland. The analysis of the structural design of the articles revealed the majority of footage to be archival materials, press agency photos (most often from PAP, the Polish Press Agency) or commercial stock photos (93.84%). Dedicated photogra- phy was featured in mere 4.23% of materials. Because stock photography is com- monly used by journalists, a vast majority of messaging (93.31%) correlated with the visuals. Such results can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, the use of stock photography is indicative of the changes in professional journalism, as noted in ac- ademic literature, as the pandemic forced changes in modes of work for reporters, reducing their mobility and hence increasing their reliance on stocks. Secondly, this is a phenomenon typical for online news journalism, which is more referencial in nature and features less original content. Moreover, it needs to be noted that the visual materials used were loosely con- nected to the subject matter – they related to the topic, but were more of a loose interpretation of the subject matter rather than a picture that could allow an audi- ence to e.g. identify the place. This, however, is not the case for articles featur- 34 ing politicians (either ruling party or opposition), where an actual photograph of a given person was used, although often it was an archival portrait, not taken for the purpose of the article. Figure 9. Sentiment of COVID-19 coverage published on Onet.pl and Wp.pl and geogra- phical coverage (in %) Source: Authors. Footage and photography in the research sample Content analysis conducted also included a classification of sources used as a ba- sis for the reports, in order to verify the reliability and credibility of the studied 35 media. Figure 10 presents the percentage distribution of sources used in content published on onet.pl and wp.pl. Over half (58.45%) of articles were written around content from another media source, both through direct citations and paraphrasing. Publishing screenshots of officials’ statements from Facebook and Twitter (and other social media) has been noted as a repeated practice. Oftentimes, the articles were also based on official press releases from the government or the President of Poland (28.87%), or other public institutions (37.5%). Worrisome, especially in the context of the pandemic, is the fact that a mere 17.5% of articles contained medical-source-supported medical data and statistics, and statements from experts on coronavirus were featured almost as often (9.51%) as statements from common citizens (10.56%). Figure 10. Sources used in articles published by Onet.pl and Wp.pl (in %) Source: Authors. 36 Assessment of the actions taken by the government in the research sample Online media were mostly informational in nature, which led to most journalists abstaining from assessing the pandemic situation (90.85%). When they did share their opinion, it was negative. As the scale of neutrality of publishers is particularly large, it is worth analysing these negative articles in greater detail. The authors of this publication verified these messages in relation to the actors and subjects which were the main feature of these publications, allowing for determination of who was criticized in this negative content. Figure 11 presents the percentage dis- tribution of journalists’ negative assessment of decisions made by the government Figure 11. Journalists’ negative assessment in relation to the actors featured in the artic- les (in %, n=45) Source: Authors. 37 with main actors featured in these articles. The criticism was most often (46.67%) directed towards the governing coalition and the President. Representatives and officials from State and global organisations were the second most criticised group (31.11%). Interestingly, in 13.33% of the sample, the criticism was aimed at other media outlets, and thus debated other journalistic opinions. “Other” (6.67% of critical content main actors), were most often the clergy, where the negative as- sessment of government decisions was as common as among articles heavily fea- turing uniformed officers. The situation in Poland as presented in the research sample The situation in the country was most often portrayed by the sampled online news outlets as “bad” (68.31%) or “very bad” (17.25%). When differentiating between the portals, wp.pl had a “very bad” outlook more often (18.59%) than onet.pl (13.72%). This was achieved by a variety of linguistic and stylistic devices, emo- tional setting, as well as directly, by featuring specific statements and people. It was up to the journalist to decide whether to expand or omit a given topic, whether to feature a given person’s statement or not. COVID-19 pandemic and SARS- CoV-2 coronavirus – specific phrases were extracted from the research sample and presented in Table 3. Table 3. Phrases relating to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic found in articles published on Onet.pl and Wp.pl Medical Emotionally charged Indicative of virus’s causes and effects 1 2 3 Virus; Coronavirus; Contagious disease COVID-19; Coronavirus SARS- CoV-2; Disease/illness; New virus; Serious infection; Coronavirus pandemic; Coronavirus epidemic; Biological factor; Hu- man mutation of the new coronavirus; Coronavirus spreads very rapidly; Deadly virus; Fuc…. coronavirus, idiot virus; Threat; Unknown and dangerous virus; Aggressive virus; Crisis; Horrible pandemic devastating the world; Horrible virus; Plague; Dangerous, painful, and deadly rival; Coronavirus harvests the crop of death; Dramatic situation; The pandemic has left a mark in our hearts; Time of God’s will, time of tears and dark- ness, a turning point, time to review one’s life; Invisible enemy, the existential threat of the coronavirus pandemic; Coronavirus kills; Coronavirus practically obliterated the air- line business; The virus is the effect of “China’s direct ac- tion”; Coronavirus is a punishment for homosexu- ality, the epidemic is God’s punishment for living in sin: homosexuality, living together before getting married, murdering of unborn children; 38 1 2 3 Epidemiological out- break; Coronavirus in- fection; New COVID-19; Risk of coronavirus in- fection; Coronavirus leads to dangerous pneumonia; Coronavirus victims; Epidemic threat; Intelligent virus; Pathogen; Virus similar in nature to SARS virus; Global pandemic; SARS-CoV-2 virus leads to COVID-19 in- fection; Infection; Coronavirus wrecked (their) organism in a week and a half; Dangerous virus strain; Coronavirus is very contagious even before symptoms appear; RNA (Ribonucleic acid) strain in a glyco- protein shell. Invisible enemy, the existential threat of the coronavirus pan- demic; Coronacrisis; A serious situation; Dangerous disease; The virus is unpredictable, the virus is dangerous; Particular threat to the home- less (people in homelessness crisis?); A challenge we had never faced before, we need to fear corona- virus and be careful; Tragedy; State of emergency of public health; Coronavirus is the worst public health crisis in a generation; Coronavirus is going wild; The fight against coronavirus; We need to squash the virus; State of epidemic emergency; Health threat; Raging coronavirus epidemic; The biggest threat in decades; COVID-19 does not respect na- tional borders; A massive breeding ground for coronavirus. Coronavirus is an incredibly democratic disease: it hits equally, situation, which has globally influenced the way we live, coro- navirus is a situation which has never hap- pened before, coronavirus is going to change our lives; Virus from Asia/Asian virus; Coronavirus epidemic threatens with a la- bour market crash, the epidemic could ruin the Polish motor vehicle sector; Nothing is going to be the way it was be- fore coronavirus; The consequences of the epidemic will be felt by everyone; Coronavirus forced national governments to fight for their citizens’ survival; Coronavirus made social distancing truly important; The virus is a great threat for the surround- ings; Elections in the pandemic are like dancing in a minefield; Coronavirus transformed the EU’s renowned single market into a serious health threat; The coronavirus became a tragedy for al- most 200 families; and it will probably be- come a tragedy for several hundreds; We are in chaos, caused by the coronavirus pandemic; We will have to live with the virus; The virus has been designed as a biological weapon. Source: Authors. Map 1 presents the frequency of source attribution of the SARS-CoV-2 corona- virus and COVID-19. The darker the colour, the more often a given location was said to be the source. As visible, China was the most commonly attributed source. The content analysis found both wide and narrow geographical areas in the attri- bution analysis. More generally, Asia was mentioned as the source. When provid- ing audiences with a more narrow source location, Wuhan, the Hubei Province in China, or Wuhan’s wet market were named. Some conspiracy-laced phrases were also in use, assuming purposeful virus design and spread, such as a lab in Wuhan, China, or the Institute of Virology in Wuhan. In other cases, other places were also posited to be the source on occasion, amongst them Italy, Singapore, or Colmar, a commune in France. When not engaging with the actual source of origin, the 39 rhetoric of a virus coming from abroad, from outside of Poland, was employed. One article even claimed that the virus came from the microcosmos. In conclu- sion, onet.pl and wp.pl content analysis (March 2020–mid-May 2020) in relation to COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that out of 568 sample articles, the majority was rational-informative in nature. This does not mean that the researched mate- rials were void of emotional messaging, as it was often present in the context of the virus and its characteristics or the pandemic situation within the country and abroad. Statements included in the coverage usually related to fear and a threat, indicating that this extraordinary situation will be difficult to handle both in Poland and around the world. This has also been noted when verifying the research sample in context of the portrayal of the situation in the country – the vast majority of mes- saging portrayed it as either very bad or bad. A vast majority of researched articles was based on materials sourced from other media platforms. They resembled paraphrases of already published content rather than dedicated news reports, which stems directly from the nature of on- line journalism, as short content being published often is its business model. The- matic articles circled around the death toll, infection numbers, and people legally obliged to self-quarantine. Reports of disobeying the restrictions and sanctions that resulted were also often a point of focus. Online media were not only avoiding moralising (which was noted only in 3.17% of content), but also providing their own opinion, as the majority of content was just factual reporting on the events Map 1. Frequency with which a given place was indicated as a source of SARS-CoV-2 virus in news items published on Onet.pl and Wp.pl Source: authors. 40 (60.56%). Articles with a strong political context were also present in the sample, clearly utilising coronavirus and COVID-19 as an (in)conspicuous backdrop. The analysed material unveiled a strong polarisation of attitudes of particu- lar social groups. One article featured medical professionals thanking society for support and help received, and in another, decried social attitudes such as dis- obeying the health and safety rules and hostile behaviour towards medical per- sonnel. Another notable example comes from the Catholic Church’s representa- tives (the clerics) who on the one hand called for obeying the health and safety rules, and on the other, urged for more frequent visits to church. On the one hand, Church representatives equated COVID-19 with “divine grace, falling onto peo- ple” (Kołodziejczyk, 2020), on the other, they directly indicated that it is God’s punishment for human sins. In this context, there was no one uniform voice of the Roman-catholic Church. This polarisation in perception of the pandemic and the virus and the variety of regulation set to control it was also present amongst decision-makers. Subsequent regulations introduced had no legal grounding. On one day, a regulation would be introduced, to concern all Poles; the next, it would be said that it is just the government’s appeal, and the next, that it was just an ask on the part of the government. The ensuing legal chaos stemmed also from decision-makers’ reluctance to employ one of the States of Emergency, as outlined in the Constitution,18 which would legitimise the decisions made. One of them was to introduce a variety of regulations, simultaneously wanting to calm social moods down and ensure full control over the crisis. The effects of these decisions were clearly evidenced by regular citizens’ opinions, happily shared in the articles published by onet.pl and wp.pl. Concluding content analysis performed on the sample materials, it can be stated that the sample collected allowed for fulfilling of the research aims, by providing knowledge on the characteristics of the pandemic narrative present in Polish news portals. However, the conclusions stemming from these observations need to be supplemented by the knowledge obtained from analysing TV media content, as presented in the following part of this publication. 18  Republic of Poland’s Constitution (art. 228) foresees the ability to introduce one of the three States of Emergency: a state of emergency, a state of natural disaster, and martial law. During the research period (March–mid-May 2020) the introduction of a state of emergency was heavily debated in public, however the decision-makers chose not to introduce it (as of the date of the publication). 41 Chapter 3. TV content analysis 551 sample materials broadcasted in main news editions of the most viewed news broadcasts in Poland (TVP1’s “Wiadomości” [“News”], Polsat’s “Wydarzenia” [“Events”], TVN’s “Fakty” [“Facts”])19 were used in order to study national TV broadcasters. Samples were collected according to the sampling timeline, and covered a total of 35 days of broadcasts between March and mid-May 2020. As aforementioned, these dates reflected the most important events of the pandemic’s first wave in Poland. Sample distribution in relation to TV broadcasters is presented in Table 4. Table 4. Number of research materials sampled from specific broadcasters TVN “Fakty” (Facts) TVP1 “Wiadomości” (News) POLSAT “Wydarzenia” (Events) 208 146 197 Source: Authors. The research sample contained 208 items from TVN’s Fakty,20 146 items from TVP1’s Wiadomości,21 and 197 from POLSAT’s Wydarzenia.22 The clear dispro- portion of TVP1’s materials included in relation to other broadcasters stems from the average length of a news item. TVN’s and POLSAT’s news broadcasts had an average news item that lasted from 3 to maximum 4 minutes (Figure 12). In TVP’s case, the average length of a news item was over 4 minutes, with some of them last- ing 10, or even 12, minutes, with subject-matter changing during its duration. This extended broadcast time was particularly prominent in the opening news items. It is also worth mentioning their bridging character, as one news item often featured more than one wide issue, with new ones introduced via journalist’s comments on- screen, or off-screen voiceovers. Topics directly connected to SARS-CoV-2 virus dominated the programming from the beginning of the research period. The first days of the pandemic in Poland additionally saw some current affairs coverage, 19  The selection of TV news stations was based on ratings (viewership numbers) which were used to determine the television market share. “Fakty” (TVN), “Wiadomości” (TVP1) and “Wydarzenia” (Polsat) had the highest ratings in 2020 (see: https://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/ar- tykul/ogladalnosc-programy-informacyjne-2020-rok-fakty-liderem-opinie). 20  TVN’s main news broadcast, broadcasted at 7 PM. 21  TVP1’s main news broadcast, broadcasted at 7:30 PM. 22  Polsat’s main news broadcast, broadcasted at 6:50 PM. 42 mostly on politics. However, with the growing numbers of infections, the coverage also increased. Significantly, every news broadcast studied prioritised pandemic- related coverage above all other topics. It was by far the most prominent topic, which on the one hand seems like a natural mechanism indicative of broadcasters’ intentions, and on the other – indicates the correct and adequate purposive sample selection in the presented research. Figure 12. Number of news items on COVID-19 in the main editions of news broadcasts presented by TVN, TVP1 and Polsat researched (n=613) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 TVP1 POLSAT TVN COVID-19 OTHER Source: Authors. The character and subject matter The content analysis entailed assigning source materials one of the two catego- ries (on two axes). The axes referred to opposite values (persuasion – information and emotions – rationality) in such a way as to precisely reflect the character of broadcasted material, which would allow to answer the basic research questions assumed in this publication. The summary is presented on Figure 13. The distribution of character of coverage across the news stations is particu- larly relevant here, as there exist significant differences. Especially visible is the contrast between TVN and TVP1, which were particularly emotion (TVP1 – 50%, TVN – 5%, POLSAT – 14%) and persuasion (TVP1 – 25%, TVN – 45%, POLSAT – 16%) – driven. The differences are hardly visible in other aspects of the cover- age, and analogies and similarities are easily noted. 43 Figure 13. The character of the COVID-19 pandemic coverage from TVP1, TVN, POLSAT (% share, n= 1102) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% emotional rational emotional- rational rational- emotional informative persuasive informative- persuasive persuasive- informative POLSAT TVN TVP1 Source: Authors. The aim of the content analysis was to classify the topics covered in researched stations’ broadcasts and the categorisation key was based on the observation of current events and noted appearance of given topics in the news items. The top- ics were grouped into: current affairs, presidential elections, medical information, the course of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, restrictions introduced by the government and the financial “shields”, and human interest stories. The last category included broadcasts featuring common citizens as main actors, and related to experiences of COVID-19 health-wise, as well as its economic implica- tions. People infected with the virus, entrepreneurs and employees were the most commonly featured actors. Material collected was used to determine topic diversity across stations and to reflect engagement levels of particular broadcasters into particular aspects of pub- lic debate during the pandemic. Results are presented in Figure 14. 44 Figure 14. Leading topics in coverage broadcasted on TVN, TVP1, POLSAT (% share, n=551) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% current affairs presidential elections decisions on restrictions and limitations medical information shields - the economy the course of the pandemic in Poland the course of the pandemic around the world human interest stories other POLSAT TVN TVP1 Source: Authors. Subject matter in TV materials in the sample most often focused on human interest stories (34%), the course of the pandemic in Poland (29%), and current affairs (25%). Restrictions, “shields”, or the course of the pandemic around the world were featured less frequently, as presented on Figure 15. This is indica- tive of a high degree of “domestication” of TV coverage. Preliminary analysis indicated already that topics covered by TV stations converged to cover issues relatable to the widest possible groups. The research sample indicated that the studied broadcasts presented in majority the perspective of common citizens, their issues, and challenges they have to face during the pandemic. It is worth noting that in terms of etiology of the virus, the broadcasts also highlighted the visible effects on citizens and their lives. Information on the virus was put in context of actual cases and complications,23 and medical information was presented in relation to the government’s policy or Polish business attempting 23  This is exemplified by the first known infection case in Poland, when the “patient zero” be- came almost a celebrity and was even exclusively interviewed (See: https://tvn24.pl/tvn24-news-in- english/coronavirus-patient-zero-in-poland-fully-recovers-as-infections-go-over-300-4367887). 45 to create their own medications. Furthermore, economic consequences of the pandemic were discussed through the prism of inflation and price changes, and medical consequences through the prism of the number of cases and availability of hospital beds. When first reports on possible vaccines appeared in April and May, the related content was going far beyond medical terminology and medical aspects. The focus was more on the cost of production rather than on reliable discussion of possible ways of inoculation and how it could protect citizens from infection. In terms of TV coverage, blame and credit attribution to particular institutions is particularly visible. For instance, if a given news item was dedicated to people stranded abroad with the flight ban in place, then the editorial staff (especially TVN) pointed towards this possibly being caused by the government’s reckless and chaotic policies. In the research sample, a lot of the issues, topics, and con- sequences of any action were discussed in relation to actual visible phenomena. If the topic was, even potentially, complex and multi-layered, it was still brought to its most basic level that could actually influence real-life citizens. The complex issue of the effects of the pandemic on the national economy, and the need to save many enterprises, was brought down to the conclusion that “the shield is leaky, but better a leaky shield than none”. The issue of remote Sejm sessions24 was similarly, depending on the medium, brought down to either: – One party’s pursuit to destroy democracy through giving itself almost authori- tarian powers, utilising the chaos stemming from the pandemic (TVN); – Blaming the parties opposed to the change for “playing” with human life and exposing politicians to health consequences (TVP); – Description of the potential change in the working method of Sejm as a natural result of the pandemic, almost equal to the wider change from office work to remote or hybrid working (TVP and Polsat). Apart from human interest stories, being the main subject matter of both TVN and Polsat, the leading topics (as presented on Figure 16) reflect a high overrepresenation of political topics on TVN and a significant deficit, relative to the other two broadcasters, of medical information on TVP1. Other topics covered are evenly distributed and reflect, in line with the assumptions made by the researchers, the intensity and content of the political debate in the researched period. 24  With the introduction of ever-newer restriction, a possibility of remote working of the Sejm has entered the public debate. Many industries moved towards remote working in order to protect public health, and this idea was transferred to politics as well. Unfortunately the incredi- bly quick change to the Regulations by the ruling party was faced with strong criticism across the entire opposition. The item allowing for the possibility of remote work even after the pandemic ends proved especially controversial. Opposition politicians formulated a series of accusations on the ad hoc scheduling of Sejm’s sessions to suit the ruling party’s agenda (See more: https:// notesfrompoland.com/2020/03/26/polish-parliament-approves-moving-its-work-online-during- coronavirus-crisis). 46 Figure 15. Leading topics in main editions of news broadcasts on TVN, TVP1, POLSAT (total, n=905) 32 19 43 31 15 66 30 99 5 78 25 37 34 14 58 37 80 4 27 21 24 5 23 36 44 12 6 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 current affairs presidential elections decisions on restrictions and limitations medical information shields - the economy the course of the pandemic in Poland the course of the pandemic around the world human interest stories other TVP1 TVN POLSAT Source: Authors. In majority, the researched media limited themselves to mere reporting on events (59%), as presented in Figure 16. There are no significant differences in corresponding results from online and TV media and the narratives are similar in nature. The broadcasts studied were geared towards informing and reporting on the course of the pandemic. This proportion clearly indicates which of the media functions were realised by the researched institutions. The research team believes that this is also indicative of a significant reluctance, aversion, or lack of capability 47 on part of the media institutions to fulfill their educational role, as during the re- searched period the etiology of the virus or fact-based, forward looking prognoses were scarcely broadcasted. In terms of the approach to reporting, TVN is worth mentioning here as the broadcaster most often reporting on past events, which could be a result of their preference to comment on already made decisions and their consequences. Moreover, TVN relatively rarely sent its reporters for live re- ports; and when it did, it mostly focused on Warsaw, the capital.25 Figure 16. Forecasts of the development of the epidemic in Poland and abroad in main editions of news broadcasts on TVP1, TVN, POLSAT (% share, n=549) TVP1 TVN POLSAT 10,96% 87,67% 1,37% 62,50% 33,65% 3,37% 34,01% 64,97% 0,51% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% reporting on past events reporting on contemporanous stories – “here and now” reporting forecasting the development of the pandemic Source: Authors. Broadcasters’ focus on informing and reporting may also stem from the dynam- ics of the pandemic, during which the sheer volume and variety of information was so large, that there was no space left for prognoses and judgements. On the other hand, the relatively large length of TV materials needs to be noted. A vast propor- tion of materials coded had a bridging function, connecting journalists located 25  Warsaw is the headquarters of TVN. The main HQ is located at 166 Wiertnicza Street. 48 in different cities or regions. This made the narrative more reporting in nature, a natural editorial trick, especially when the materials included journalists doing the characteristic standups. Moreover, a typical selection of phrases such as “we are in front of the Sejm building”, “we are just in Słubice, next to the border”, “we just arrived here, at this shutdown restaurant, whose owner decided to only do take away” was regularly noted. Actors, general sentiment, facts and opinions present in broadcasts Taking into consideration the subject matter featured in the news broadcasts, it brings no surprise that the research sample contained materials with majorly nega- tive sentiment. The sample contained as much as 68% of news items coded as expressing negative sentiment, as presented in Figure 17. The materials univo- cally portrayed the situation as bad, and the pandemic as an unambiguously nega- tive factor. There were no attempts to relate the pandemic to a positive feeling whatsoever, not even to portray it as something temporary, or a formal test of the readiness of the State and the society. The virus – as portrayed in the research sample – was attacking dynamically and unpredictably, and the full picture of its consequences was still not known. Figure 17. General sentiment expressed in the COVID-19 pandemic coverage (n=549) 62; 11% 376 ; 68% 69; 13% 42; 8% positive negative neutral ambivalent Source: Authors. Positive news (11%) related mostly to human interest stories of convales- cents, the progress made on vaccination development, or other medical suc- cesses achieved in this space. However, when analysing particular media in- stitutions, some differentiating fluctuations can be noted. TVP1 is an outlier, 49 with 29% of its coverage positive, compared to TVN and Polsat, whose positive coverage did not surpass 10% (Figure 18). These positively-inclined materials broadcasted on TVP1 related to the government’s policies and success in fight- ing the pandemic (e.g. the “shields”,26 restriction easing). The other stations usually featured positive news in the context of the policy of other countries (e.g. Germany and their social support policies, or the number of daily tests provided). This is even more interesting given the fact that individual items are studied, and TVP1, because of its lengthier pieces, had the least number of them analysed is taken into consideration. This indicates the tendency of this particular broadcaster to present things as relatively more positive; definitely in comparison to TVN (11 items, 6%). Figure 18. General sentiment expressed in the COVID-19 pandemic coverage of main news broadcasts from TVP1, TVN, POLSAT (% share, n=549) 28,08% 45,21% 12,33% 14,38% 5,29% 73,56% 17,31% 3,37% 5,08% 79,70% 7,61% 7,11% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% positive negative neutral ambivalent POLSAT TVN TVP1 Source: Authors. It is worth noting that even if relating this to the entirety of the research sam- ple (online content included), the proportions hardly change. The differences in broadcasts become visible only when we cross reference the data. Thus, some cor- relations and relationships become visible when cross referencing the sentiment of 26  “Anti-crisis shield” – the general propaganda name of the set of solutions and support mechanisms for entrepreneurs whose activity was severely limited or disabled because of the lockdown and pandemic restrictions. 50 coverage with the leading topics presented. Negative sentiments most often fea- tured in materials on human interest stories (39.89%), the course of the pandemic in Poland (29.52%) and in the world (24.20%), and current affairs (27.66%). This is evidence of relating human stories and issues directly touching the people with negative sentiment towards COVID-19. In terms of correlation of positive sentiment with specific leading topics, the results are as follows: the course of the pandemic in Poland (43.55%), informa- tion on virus etiology and other medical info (11.29%), decisions on restrictions and limitations (24.19%), human interest stories (16.13%), and shields and the economy (20.97%). This is a relatively clear indicator of the media connecting restrictions, shields, or medical info (including vaccines) with positive sentiment. This is particularly interesting, as several months later the decision to introduce restrictions are widely (and negatively!) commented on. The aforementioned cor- relations are presented on Figures 19 and 20. Figure 19. Leading topics in news items with negative sentiment (% share, n=379) 27,66% 10,64% 16,76% 13,56% 7,98% 29,52% 24,20% 39,89% 0,80% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% current affairs presidential elections decisions on restrictions and limitations medical information shields - the economy the course of the pandemic in Poland the course of the pandemic around the world human interest stories other Source: Authors. 51 Figure 20. Leading to