Abstract

PINTO, Sandra; OLIVEIRA, Eunice  and  SILVA, Elsa Costa e. The Controversy in Media Health Coverage: The Stayaway Covid Application and Information Sources. Comunicação e Sociedade [online]. 2021, vol.40, pp.109-128.  Epub Dec 20, 2021. ISSN 1645-2089.  https://doi.org/10.17231/comsoc.40(2021).3254.

Presented as an essential tool to stop the covid-19 pandemic, the Stayaway Covid app has remained at the scene of the national media landscape since it was mentioned for the first time, having generated around 1,400 news in 2020. This remarkable volume of news coverage reflects the potential relevance of this technology during a pandemic and the controversy among the public and the media. To contribute to the understanding of the news coverage of the application, we analysed the sources of a sample of 182 press, radio and television news pieces associated with Stayaway Covid, distinguishing those that focus on privacy and obligatoriness controversies from those that do not. In this case of public health controversy, the results show that experts did not take the lead, with politicians having a more prominent role in fueling the controversy, especially concerning the intention to make the application mandatory.

Keywords : pandemic; media; sources of information; controversy; health journalism.

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