Framing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparison of Political and Media Framing During the First Three Waves in Germany

Abstract

The study focuses on the framing of the COVID-19 pandemic in German parliamentary debates and media reports. It concentrates on the first three pandemic waves. The goal is not only to compare political and media framing, but also to show how frames changed from wave to wave. A content analysis of plenary protocols and articles from Welt Online and SZ Online has been carried out, coding single frame elements instead of complete frames, which are instead formed through cluster analyses. Results show that there are differences between government and opposition framing of the pandemic, with the opposition parties criticising the government’s crisis management, while the governing parties justified their policies. Concerning the relationship between media and political framing, findings indicate that similar frames are used in both arenas. Nevertheless, differences in frequency are evident. The results show no evidence to support the assumption that frames of the governing parties are picked up more frequently by the media. Moreover, there are no signs of frame alignment between political actors and the media in the early stages of the pandemic nor of a diversification thereafter.