Content analysis of social and economic issues in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The study of mass communication is based on the assumption that the media plays a significant role in spreading messages about various aspects of life to the public. The frequency of published news is an indicator of the various levels of a problem. The more attention paid by a newspaper to the community, the more valuable it is in reporting problems. Currently, news related to the COVID-19 outbreak is most popular. The media has been reporting not only on health but also on social and economic issues during the pandemic. The questions of this research are (1) what social issues were reported in the online news media during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) what economic issues were reported in the online news media during the same period. This study aims to identify the content of news when conveying COVID-19 pandemic information based on the frequency of appearance and news content based on social and economic issues in online news. This is a descriptive quantitative study using a content analysis approach to obtain primary data from 6,376 online news articles published by Antara News from 28 February to 8 April 2020. The NVivo 12 tool was used to analyse the data by dividing the types of COVID-19 issues related to social and economic issues in the news (in the form of text, images, videos and graphics) as an analysis unit. The results showed that Antara News used text, photos, videos and graphics 1,847 times for social issues and 2,701 times for economic issues related to COVID-19. The social issues involved 20 themes. Some of the important ones included regulations, social funds and charities, the humanities, the availability of infrastructure facilities, education, instruction and appeal, and culture and religion. Meanwhile, the economic issues involved 52 themes. Some of the important ones included exchange rates; transportation; the oil, natural gas and electricity industries; social funds and charities; regulation and policy; agriculture; and the tourism industry. The topics are related to social distancing, social restrictions, social actions, culture, other problems associated with the social sector (a decline in community purchasing power, consumption and dismissal) and the real and massive impact on economic growth. COVID-19 is not only a global health crisis but also a major labour market and economic crisis that has had a significant impact on society. In conclusion, a broader study is recommended using several publication periods and online media.