Childhood and the Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Argentinian Government established a nationwide policy of Preventive and Mandatory Social Isolation. As a consequence of the measures, children were confined to their homes. During this period children adopted multiple symbolic images generated by the media. In order to evaluate how children were affected during the first months of lockdown we decided to analyze the way in which children were considered on digital media. Objectives: To identify the space children had on digital media in Argentina at the beginning of the pandemic and to characterize those aspects related to child rights during that period. Methods: Using a quantitative method, information about children and digital media in Argentina was collected from 10th March to 9th June 2020. In total 119,103 news items which made reference to the COVID-19 pandemic were found. Out of this universe, 14,543 (12.3%) matched the selected search terms. All the articles were checked one by one to discard those that did not make reference to the selected dimensions related to child rights. Descriptive statistics was applied for selected categories. Results: The news reports analyzed (a total of 1,620) were distributed between the following categories: Education (26.42%), Play (26.05%), Health care (18.52%), General care (11.23%), Violence (5.06%), Nutrition (4.94%), Protection (3.95%), Children’s voice (2.28%), Poverty (1.54%). The way the media characterized child rights categories varied according to the type of media (national or regional) and the rights considered. The space given by the media to children at this stage in the pandemic was much lower compared to that given to the adult population. Conclusions: The space devoted to childhood in the digital media was based on emergent situations associated with COVID-19. During the period of analysis, and in the light of the rights paradigm, children were affected in the recognition of their rights. This situation demands a proactive response from different sectors of society to identify and recognize child rights violations.