Framing COVID-19 by an anglophone newspaper outlet

Abstract

Studies on media coverage and pandemics predominantly focus on the global North. Little is known about how the media in a global South setting is reporting the development of such a global crisis as it evolves. This paper aims to fill the gap by observing an Indonesian anglophone newspaper outlet, The Jakarta Post. Using lexical and statistical analysis on 539 articles, the current study finds the focus of the coverage has been on how the government is managing the crisis. The framing by The Jakarta Post re-emphasises the very nature of the Indonesian economy, which is heavily relying on the informal sector, thus, making the decision to apply a full lockdown rather dilemmatic. The national-local political dynamics are also at play as it shapes the communication of crisis management in Indonesia.