Terveyskriisin hallintaan osallistuviin toimijoihin liittyvät narratiivit korona-ajan pääkirjoituksissa

Abstract

Finnish newspapers’ narratives of actors participating in the governance of the COVID-19 pandemic – a Narrative Policy Framework analysis of editorials

This study investigates Finnish newspapers’ narratives concerning actors involved in crisis governance, focusing on editorials during four change points of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. At each change point, the Finnish Government enacted or revoked Emergency Powers. First, utilising the narrative policy framework, state leaders, authorities, and citizens were identified as being most often portrayed as villains, heroes, or accountable figures in editorials. In contrast, the economy and businesses, marginalised groups, and citizens were most often portrayed as victims. Next, following an abductive qualitative content analysis, six narratives used by the media to categorise societal actors as villains, heroes, victims, or accountable figures were identified: 1) support/necessity, 2) defence of victims, 3) support of the usage of power(s), 4) encouragement/social control, 5) responsibility/answer, 6) challenge and the watchdog. The results indicate how the media has evaluated and attempted to affect actors’ crisis-related actions through editorial narratives.