The Potrayal Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Breakout In China Through The Lences Of Botswana Media

In early December 2019,an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19),caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-COV-2)occurred in Wuhan City,Hubei Province,China.On January 30,2020,the World Health Organization declared the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.As of February 14,2020,49,053 cases were confirmed and 1,381 deaths have been reported globally.Perceived risk of acquiring the disease has led many governments to institute a variety of control measures.Media play a very vital role in the portrayal of a pandemic through the information they share with the audience and how they disperse that information.This study focused on the analysis in which two mainstream media from Botswana,Sunday Standard and Gazette newspapers portray the breakout of Covid-19 in China,with a close reference to the media in Britain,employing a content analysis by looking at distinctive frames,in particular used by both the two countries media,and establishing a pattern or influence of media imperialism,under the bases that Botswana was the former protectorate of Britain.The current study examined comparatively The Times newspaper from Britain and The Botswana Gazette and Sunday Standard’s portrayal of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in China(2020)by categorizing the media themes,emphasis and developments sighted during the time when the pandemic was recorded with higher numbers in China,and the study revealed that The Times newspaper from Britain carried a lower media domination influence or media imperialism over The Botswana Gazette and Sunday Standard after analyzing the frames used by the three newspapers.Findings revealed that,though the human interest frame and economic consequence frame were dominant,The Times newspaper carried the conflict frame more in their news stories as compared to The Botswana Gazette and Sunday Standard newspapers,whose frame frames dominance in reporting on the Covid-19 outbreak in China circles around the human interest frame and the economic consequence frame.