Abstract
This study explored how the COVID-19 pandemic was framed in the Philippine media during its initial stage. Specifically, it determined the dominant frames and tones used and identified emerging themes in the online news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using qualitative content analysis, 72 online news articles published from March 1 to April 30, 2020, from the websites of the three chosen media companies–ABS-CBN News, GMA News, and INQUIRER.net were analyzed. The news articles were sampled using a consecutive 6-day sampling technique. Additionally, 18 news articles were purposively chosen from the total samples to examine emerging themes further. A contextualized news article analysis form was used to determine the dominant frames and tones, and the techniques of open and axial coding were used to identify emerging themes manually. The result shows that the dominant frame and tone were the human interest frame and neutral tone, respectively. Further, five themes emerged from the analysis: Scientific Accounts, Misinformation and Fake News, Discrimination and Harassment, New Normal, and Community Support. The findings provide significant insights into how COVID-19 was framed in the Philippine media. It also revealed possible unique themes Filipino journalists use in presenting health crises.
