The Greek ‘success story’ on the international media representations concerning the pandemic of COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic concerns the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease that started in late 2019 and has gradually spread across the globe. Prior to the pandemic, Greece had already undergone a decade long financial crisis that had a great impact on the national healthcare system that had been weakened significantly. Along with the second oldest population of Europe and a big number of refugees and migrants living in concentration camps, Greece was not set to have a smooth fight. Against all odds, Greece managed to contain the spread of the virus with the rapid enforcement of a national lockdown. The international media quickly covered the handling of the outbreak from the Greek government and the Greek citizens. The depiction of Greece during the first coronavirus wave was very different to the depiction of Greece during the economic crisis. The depiction of Greece of the pandemic will be analyzed through 35 English and Spanish speaking articles that were published between April and June 2020. The head and sub-headlines of the selected articles will be analyzed and then the analysis will continue with the collection and organization of the metaphors that are used throughout the analysis. A secondary analysis focus on Greece of the past and this analysis will also be centered around the main metaphors that were used to describe Greece of the past. Lastly, the depiction of Greece of the financial crisis will be presented through a literature review. The analyses will then be compared to draw similarities and differences.