Abstract

GALARZA MOLINA, Rocío. The Pandemic in Post-truth Times: Narratives about COVID-19 Disinformation in the Mexican Media. Rev. mex. opinión pública [online]. 2022, n.33, pp.121-137.  Epub Oct 31, 2022. ISSN 2448-4911.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.24484911e.2022.33.82197.

The purpose of this research is to establish the narratives about disinformation and fake news presented in Mexican media. A thematic analysis of the coverage of COVID-19 in the first stage of the pandemic in 2020 was conducted, based on a sample comprising 3,284 notes from 5 newspapers and 3 national television networks. Results show that the media coverage portrays a handling of information about the health crisis that echoes the prevailing narratives around post-truth, so the issue of misinformation and fake news is undoubtedly present and manifested in three themes: references to the disinformation phenomenon, disinformation about COVID-19 among the population and the government as disinformant. The conclusion discusses the implications of the lack of cohesion in the last two topics, since they are handled as unconnected problems, providing an incomplete and distorted overview of the phenomenon.

Keywords : Disinformation; coverage; COVID-19; fake news; journalism; post-truth.