Article
The Effects of the COVID-19 “Infodemic” on Journalistic
Content and News Feed in Online and Offline
Communication Spaces
Ioanna Kostarella 1, * and Rigas Kotsakis 2
Citation: Kostarella, Ioanna, and
Rigas Kotsakis. 2022. The Effects of
the COVID-19 “Infodemic” on
Journalistic Content and News Feed
in Online and Offline Communication
Spaces. Journalism and Media 3:
471–490. https://doi.org/
10.3390/journalmedia3030033
Academic Editor:
Andreu Casero-Ripollés
Received: 9 June 2022
Accepted: 9 August 2022
Published: 16 August 2022
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Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
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4.0/).
Journal. Media 2022, 3, 471–490. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia3030033
1 Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
GR-54625 Thessaloniki, Greece
2 Department of Information and Electronic Engineering, International Hellenic University of Greece (IHU),
Sindos Campus, GR-57400 Thessaloniki, Greece
* Correspondence: ikostarella@jour.auth.gr
Abstract: The systematic coverage of the coronavirus pandemic by the Greek mass media began in
February 2020, specifically, from the time the virus made its appearance in the most significant way
in Italy. Until then, news about the virus had been sporadically visible depending mainly on news
reports coming from the international media and press agencies. The assessment of the COVID-19
pandemic as an “infodemic” by the World Health Organization (WHO) made obvious the need
to study media coverage and map its patterns, along with the unprecedented political and social
response and the massive consequences on the global economy. Through a large content analysis,
containing 7457 news items from 13 different media outlets, plus a comparative Twitter analysis
of 36,317 tweets, we took the present situation as an opportunity to collect real-time data but also
as a point of departure for addressing issues connected to journalistic practices and technological
changes in the framework of COVID-19. According to our findings, the Greek media faced the crisis
“with a view to the world”, emphasizing international coverage, giving priority to the authorities and
scientists, and keeping (at least in their majority) hoaxes and conspiracy theories out of the agenda.
Keywords: coronavirus; media coverage; Twitter; misinformation; print media
1. Introduction
Digital technologies and social media platforms have produced transformational
changes in journalism. Several aspects of newsroom work have already been sufficiently
documented (Vu et al. 2020; Lecheler and Kruikemeier 2016; Hellmueller et al. 2013),
providing further insight into how journalism is practiced today. Much of the scholarly
work focuses on the interaction between established norms and journalistic standards, such
as impartiality, and the new imperatives of social media.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, at the beginning of 2020, it became clear that
due to the nature of the pandemic and the measures taken, online spaces of information
would gain an even bigger advantage compared to offline ones. At the same time, the role
of authoritative sources in providing the dominant frames has been questioned, along with
the capacity of media personnel to provide verified information.
Therefore, the pandemic provides us a unique occasion to study media coverage
in both online and offline spaces, in the framework of the often-overlooked relationship
between journalism and public health (Bernadas and Ilagan 2020), and at the same time
monitor the related debate on Twitter, a medium with different technological affordances
that “privileges the rapid production and dissemination of fragments of information in a
public, networked environment, resulting in an expectation of speedy and pithy textual
exchanges” (Hermida and Mellado 2020, p. 872). Greek print and digital media, along with
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/journalmedia
Journal. Media 2022, 3 472

the Greek Twitter, were used as a case study in an attempt to include the factor of national
particularities, providing in this way data for global comparisons.
In crisis situations in general and in a health crisis in particular, the media do play
an important role in bringing societies in contact with risk (Waisbord 2002). During such
situations, the traditional journalistic commitment to objectivity, which is the main source
of their authority, is challenged (Kotisova 2020). “There is a heightened need to understand
the nature of public trust in expertise, just as there is to puzzle through what it means to
designate journalism as an ‘essential service’ or journalists as ‘essential workers’,” Lewis
urges scholars (Lewis 2020, p. 686).
Therefore, this discussion becomes important for journalism to continue to play an
important role in the public’s information about health issues, (a) as it can give insight
that derives from the media content on how the journalistic profession distinguishes itself
from alternative sources of information and (b) as it can provide information on journalistic
authority, in other words, if “journalists still possess a right to create legitimate discursive
knowledge about events in the world for others” (Carlson 2017, p. 13).
At the same time, it is worth looking at the differences between digital and print
journalistic culture. The avalanche of human response is being facilitated by the flow of
information from traditional media but, in particular, by the networked world of social
media. Social media became a significant conduit for news and information in the modern
media environment, with one in three people in the world engaging in social media and
two-thirds of those on the internet using it (Ortiz-Ospina and Roser 2020). As stated by
Islam et al. (2020) “since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, social media users have
been playing a role in all stages of knowledge translation, including COVID-19 morbidity
and mortality, interventions, spreading rumors and conspiracy theories, and reporting
stigma”. Twitter has been shown to capture the dynamics of real-world events including
the spread of diseases (Kagashe et al. 2017; Vijaykumar et al. 2018).
This research aimed at shedding light on whether online journalism can actually
be functionally differentiated from print journalism, in a context like this, by using its
technological component as a determining factor. Moreover, as the sources from which
people obtain new information have been changing and social media such as Twitter have
become an important tool for information, it is worth observing the discussion that took
place on Twitter to reveal trends in the popular social medium. Though not the most
popular social medium in Greece, Twitter was chosen as it is one of the more frequently
analyzed and has become a prominent space for political talk. Twitter, as a text-based
online service, permits researchers to recognize objects of political and public attention
and compare them to the media agenda. Moreover, it was chosen as, since the outbreak of
COVID-19, the number of tweets about the pandemic has been increasing (Singh et al. 2020,
p. 20). It should be noted though that the specific sample aimed mainly at bringing forward
some of the basic dimensions of the discussion rather than exhausting all possible aspects.
But first, we need to take a look at the environment within which all these take place
and provide a brief background of mis/disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

1.1. The Neologism “Infodemic” as Point of Departure

In February 2020, the term “infodemic”, coined in 2003 by political scientist David
Rothkopf (Rothkopf 2003), was first used in the context of COVID-19 by the World Health
Organization to refer to the avalanche of false news, conspiracy theories, and misleading
advertisements that flooded the news after the outbreak of COVID-19 (Muñoz-Sastre
et al. 2021). The term “infodemic”, defined as “an overabundance of information—some
accurate and some not—that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and
reliable guidance when they need it”, was coined to categorize some of the common
features of rumors, stigma, and conspiracy theories during public health emergencies
(Islam et al. 2020). “We are not just fighting an epidemic, we are fighting an epidemic of
misinformation”, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the Munich
Security Conference on 15 February 2020.
Journal. Media 2022, 3 473

The “infodemic” neologism concerns essentially a large amount of information about

a problem, which is an obstacle to its solution. It comes from the terms information and
epidemic to outline the perils of mis/disinformation phenomena during the management
of virus outbreaks. A major obstacle in such cases is the increase in the circulation of
fake news and groundless allegations. Fake news is fabricated information that cleverly
mimics real news and exploits existing public beliefs to influence or destabilize society and
institutions, causing confusion and stress among citizens (Waisbord 2018).
Information is an important public good and at the same time a resource. In extremely
complex situations, such as the coronavirus pandemic, it is both a tool for guidance and
reassurance. In case of mismanagement, it spreads panic and chaos. When crises occur,
such as wars, riots, terrorism, illnesses, and diseases, to name a few, the media gain an
important role in mediating information (Lee and Bottomley 2010).
In this context, the media, by providing reliable and cross-referenced information, help
citizens make informed decisions. By providing news, journalism becomes essential for the
contemporary public sphere, which in liberal democracies functions as an independent and
intermediate system between state and society and guarantees the principle of universal
access to information for all citizens (Habermas 2006).

1.2. Media and Public Health Crises

During major crises, people rely more than usual on communication tools and the
media (Lyu 2012). On a number of occasions, such as in Tai and Sun’s (2007) study of
media dependency during the SARS epidemic crisis, Dalrymple et al.’s (2016) study on
social media during the 2014 Ebola crisis, Holland et al.’s study on the legacy of the swine
flu global pandemic (Holland et al. 2014), and Krishnatray and Gadekar’s study on the
construction of death in H1N1 news in The Times of India, a body of research has examined
the potentials and challenges of media usage in public health crises. The media play a
particularly important role in raising awareness and informing the population so as to
protect themselves from a virus, as in this case. In fact, the media have the potential to exert
a great deal of influence for good or evil. In the recent pandemic of COVID-19, rumors soon
circulated and affected the real world, often creating confusion and fear among internet
users.
Important is also the role of expert sources. Most of the previous studies suggest that
institutional actors and experts, in the more restrictive sense, account for the majority of
cited sources. The role of experts in journalistic practice is considered central, and expert
sources are used in journalistic texts primarily to provide facts, increase credibility, and
ensure objectivity (Boyce 2006). They also shape the context of the story, are a dramaturgical
component, and increase the news value by highlighting threat, creating proximity, or
triggering controversy (Nölleke in Wagner et al. 2019).
The coronavirus pandemic was not the first to reach the age of internet connection and
interdependence: at least three other global epidemics occurred in the previous ten years.
The H1N1 pandemic, the Ebola epidemic, and the Zika epidemic have all had obvious and
well-documented influences on social interactions and connections (Dalrymple et al. 2016;
Ribeiro et al. 2018).
In the case of the new coronavirus, within a few weeks from its outbreak, a series of
misleading rumors were circulated. Both the outbreak and the peak of the first phase of the
pandemic coincided with the outbreak and peak of the infodemic. In fact, Depoux et al.
(2020) reported that panic through social media traveled faster than the virus itself.
The COVID-19 “infodemic” brought to the surface misinformation in the form of
unverified rumors, refashioned in the name of the coronavirus, that have always been there
evident in controversial issues in the areas of health and science, such as climate-change
denial, anti-vaccination, or anti-5G.
Some of the basic hoaxes that circulated were that:
• The virus is a biological weapon, developed in a lab.
• The vaccine exists and this pandemic is a “game” of the pharmaceutical companies.
Journal. Media 2022, 3 474

• There are alternative therapies that can treat it effectively.

• 5G technologies are linked to the virus (Imhoff and Lamberty 2020, p. 1113).

1.3. The Coronavirus Pandemic in the Greek Media Ecosystem

The systematic coverage of the coronavirus pandemic by the Greek mass media began
in February 2020, specifically, from the time the virus made its appearance in the most
significant way in Italy. Until then and since January 2020, news about the virus had been
sporadically visible depending mainly on the news reports of the international media and
press agencies.
Greece belongs to a group of countries in Southern Europe that are characterized by
distinct patterns of media—political interactions—and similar to Italy, Spain, and Portugal,
the Greek media have developed within a system of clientelism (Touri and Kostarella
2017). In this system, specific political affiliations exist to which media content is tightly
linked (Hallin and Mancini 2004; Papathanassopoulos 2013). These “eclectic affinities”
have cost over the years mainstream media their credibility (Pleios 2013; Skamnakis 2018;
Papathanassopoulos 2020). As the country in the past decade went through a deep recession,
the media industry suffered major losses in advertising revenue and huge reductions in
state subsidies, while public distrust increased (Papathanassopoulos 2013; Siapera et al.
2015).
As far as it concerns the “battle” between old and new media, as Papathanassopoulos
(2020) notes, in contrast to most Western countries, Greek users tend to prefer or even trust
pure digital news outlets more than those of the traditional mainstream media. Another
surprising finding is that “Greece appears to be the only country in the world that believes
social media do a better job in separating fact from fiction than traditional news media, but
this is linked more to the low opinion Greeks have of news media in general rather than
the quality of information provided” (Papathanassopoulos 2020, p. 139).
Despite the recession of the previous years, Greece has received a lot of praise from
the international media as the country has managed the first stage of the COVID-19 crisis
in an exemplary manner. The management included the decision by the Greek government
to commit 11 million euros from the national budget to an urgent publicity campaign
to promote measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. This raised criticism among
opposition MPs and part of the press that the government is using the COVID-19 measures
to improve its relations with the media without transparency and became an issue of
dispute, evident especially in the Twitter debate.

2. Structure of the Research: The Combination of Two Data Sets

The main goal of this research was to uncover the characteristics of coverage in the
Greek media through their print and online news editions. Specifically, through 7457 news
items from 13 different media outlets, we tried to shed some light on key issues such as
the type of journalistic content, the dominant themes, and the main protagonists and at
the same time monitor the presence of hoaxes and conspiracy theories. At the same time,
as social media is a significant conduit for news and information in the modern media
ecosystem, we monitored the discussion on Twitter under the most popular hashtags (e.g.,
#COVID19 greece) in order to identify the dominant trends and compare them to the key
findings of our media coverage. We took a first look at the amount of conversation taking
place on Twitter, with respect to COVID-19, the themes of discussion, where the discussion
is emerging from, myths shared about the virus, etc.
The main hypotheses of this research, informed by previous literature (Schudson 2003;
Quandt 2008; Krishnatray and Gadekar 2014; Carlson 2017; Bernadas and Ilagan 2020;
Falcone and Sapienza 2020; Boberg et al. 2020; Mellado et al. 2021) are as follows:

H1. The pandemic was covered by the Greek media in the light of an international problem, which is
managed locally.
Journal. Media 2022, 3 475

H2. COVID-19 represents a crisis context in which standard norms and practices may be signifi-
cantly modified in different types of news outlets and social media platforms.

H3. The main sources of information in Greek media have been the officials and other “authorized
knowers”.

H4. Mis/disinformation regarding COVID-19 has been abundant in the Greek media and on Twitter.

Our research methodology was content analysis with the aim of highlighting the
patterns of coverage through their quantitative processing, using descriptive statistics
(SPSS). Our content comes from two sets of data: the newspapers and news sites data set
and the Twitter data set.

2.1. The Mass Media Data Set

2.1.1. Period of Study
Our newspapers and news sites sample comes from print and online publications
starting from 13 March 2020. Three days before, on 10 March, Greek Health Minister
Vassilis Kikilias announced the closure of all schools and universities as part of efforts to
contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Also, from 14 March, the Greek government
has decided to shut down commercial stores, cinemas, bars, and restaurants, in response to
the escalating coronavirus outbreak.
We stopped collecting data on 10 April 2020 when Greece managed to flatten the curve
and optimism was evident as reflected in the statement of the spokesperson of the Ministry
of Health, epidemiologist Sotiris Tsiodras (2020): “the epidemic curve of deaths has not
increased, we just expect it to show a decrease in the coming days”.
During this period, media coverage was almost monothematic in all the publications
under consideration, until April 10, when the de-escalation of the coverage became visible.

2.1.2. Sample
The sample (N = 7547) includes content from seven of the most popular sites in the
country, excluding social media and banking and business group websites, as recorded by
Alexa ranking (access date 3 December 2020). Also, it comes from the first four newspapers
in terms of sales, as reflected in the bulletins of the distribution agency “Argos” (circulation
bulletin, 13 March 2020), the newspaper Kathimerini, one of the most historical and impor-
tant Greek publications (legacy press), but also the extreme views newspaper To Makelio, in
order for the sample to be as representative as possible.
Newspapers sample: We analyzed all newspaper items that were relevant to COVID-19.
Coronavirus was the keyword for the selection of the unit of analysis.
News sites sample: Given that a site can contain more than 100 articles per day, we
applied the following selection rule: only the first twenty coronavirus articles on each site
were coded, starting at 6 a.m.
Tables 1 and 2 are presented below for a better understanding of our sample, while
Figure 1 is a snapshot of the newspapers on 13 March 2020.

Table 1. News sites ranking (according to Alexa ranking 3 December 2020).

Rank News Site

5th place In.gr
6th place Lifo.gr
8th place Enimerotiko.gr
10th place Zougla.gr
18th place Protothema.gr
29th place Iefimerida.gr
37th place Newsbomb.gr
 6th place Lifo.gr
8th place Enimerotiko.gr
10th place Zougla.gr
18th place Protothema.gr
Journal. Media 2022, 3 29th place Iefimerida.gr 476
37th place Newsbomb.gr

Table2.2.Newspaper
Table Newspapercirculation
circulation (13
(13 March
March 2020).
2020).

Newspaper Circulation Numbers

Newspaper Circulation Numbers
Ta Nea 11.980
Ta Nea 11.980
I Efimerida twn Syntaktwn 5.580
I Efimerida twn Syntaktwn 5.580
Eleftheros Typos
Eleftheros Typos 3.760 3.760
Eleftheri Wra Wra
Eleftheri 2.670 2.670
Kathimerini
Kathimerini No data
Noavailable
data available
Makelio
Makelio No data
Noavailable
data available
Source:Argos
Source: Argos Distribution
Distribution Agency.
Agency.

Figure1.1.The
Figure Thenewspapers’
newspapers’ front
front pages
pages on
on 13
13 March
March 2020.
2020.

2.1.3.Unit
2.1.3. Unitof
of Analysis
Analysis andand Coding
Coding
Theunit
The unit of
of analysis
analysis is
is the
the news
news item,
item, in
in other
other words,
words,each
eachautonomous
autonomousinformation
information
sectionon
section onthe
the sites
sites and
and newspapers
newspapers under
under examination.
examination.TheTheanalysis
analysisofofthe
thenews
newsitems
items
was based on a codebook, focusing on the content categories, presented below,
was based on a codebook, focusing on the content categories, presented below, under study. under
study.
The finalThe
formfinal
was form was prepared
prepared on the
on the basis basis
of the of the previous
previous pilot formpilot
andform and
expert expert
comments
comments on it. The sample
on it. The sample was coded manually.was coded manually.
Oursample
Our sample (N (N == 7547)
7547) was
was analyzed
analyzed according
accordingto:to:
1. The type of the news item (article, interview, op-ed, etc.) (related to H2);
2. The presence of images (related to H2);
3. Whether they are signed by an author or the editorial team (related to H2);
4. The sources from which the information mentioned in the text comes, e.g., experts,
global organizations (e.g., WHO), people who got sick (related to H3);
5. Whether it focuses on human drama or data (related to H2);
6. It contains hoaxes and conspiracy theories, e.g., the virus was developed in the lab,
etc. (related to H4);
7. The type of content (related to H2);
8. The main source of reference (related to H2 and H3);
9. The presence of a link (coding only applies to sites) (related to H2 and H3);
10. The main theme (related to H1).
Journal. Media 2022, 3 477

Twelve annotators were involved in the process of coding, all of them trained by the
principal investigator(s). At this point, it should be underlined that one of the limitations
of this research is the fact that the inter-annotator agreement was not verified.

2.2. The Social Media Data Set

Besides analyzing the news items coming from print and online news media which
reflect the tendencies of the public debate as expressed by opinion leaders, we chose to
analyze tweets about the same event (COVID-19) but at a different time period, 29 May–14
June 2020, which coincides with the end of the lockdown. This choice was made in order
to understand the structure and the characteristics of the public debate, as represented on
Twitter.
This part of our research looks at the amount of conversation taking place on Twitter,
with respect to COVID-19, which were the main sources that discussion was emerging
from, and the main themes of discussion.
Using the Twitter Streaming API, we began collecting tweets (N = 36,317) related
to COVID-19 from 29 May to 14 June 2020. Twitter’s streaming API returns any tweet
containing the keyword in the text of the tweet. For example, the keyword “COVID” will
return tweets that contain both “COVID19” and “COVID-19” or “COVID19GREECE”.
Table 3 shows the hashtags we used to collect data. By continuously monitoring
Twitter’s trending topics, keywords, and sources associated with COVID-19, we did our
best to capture conversations related to the coronavirus pandemic for the specific period of
time. During the study period, the overall number of tweets was 36,317, quotes 3607, and
retweets 23,337.

Table 3. Hashtags and date of collection.

Hashtag Tracked Since

#COVID19 greece 29 May 2020
#µενoυµε_ασϕαλεις (stay safe) 29 May 2020
#κo$oνoιoς (coronavirus) 29 May 2020
#πανδηµια (pandemic) 29 May 2020
#COVID_19 29 May 2020
#κα$αντίνα (quarantine) 29 May 2020
#µµε_ξεϕτίλες (media are a disgrace) 29 May 2020
#Tσιoδ$ας (Tsiodras: the name of the person in charge of Greece’s
29 May 2020
management of the coronavirus pandemic)

Figure 2 shows the overall volume of tweets and the number of new COVID-19 cases
for the same period. The event that propelled the rise in the number of tweets between the
5th and the 8th of June is the massive traveling of Greeks for the three-day weekend of the
Orthodox Holy Spirit holiday.
The limitations to our data set cannot remain unmentioned. The first is that we
collected our data set leveraging Twitter’s free streaming API, which only returns 1% of
the total Twitter volume, and the volume of tweets we collected was dependent on our
network connection. That resulted in a gap in our data set due to intermittent internet
connectivity issues on the 6th and 7th of May.
Journal. Media 2022, 3 478

Figure 2. Overall volume of tweets and new COVID-19 cases.

3. Findings
In this section, we present the main findings derived from our research. It is divided
into two parts: the first is about the media content as it appeared in press and news sites,
while the second is about the content of conversation on Twitter.
News media content is analyzed according to some of the formal characteristics,
such as the type of news item and the type of content. Then, we continue with the main
protagonists and themes covered, and at the end, we discuss the presence or not of hoaxes
and conspiracy theories.
As for the content of conversation on Twitter, it is analyzed through its main themes of
discussion, trending topics, and the main sources (social media accounts) it derives from.

3.1. Media Content

Figure 3 shows that the report prevails in print and online media. Besides reports,
there are a fair number of stories and subjective forms of writing. In the second place
for online and in the third place for print media comes the story. Under the category
“other”—to a greater extent in print media and to a lesser extent in online news media—we
mainly come across interviews and secondarily other types of news content, such as letters
to the editor, commentaries, etc.

3.2. Source of Information and Use of Hyperlinks

In our research, we coded any explicit reference to a source at the beginning or end of
the text but also any tacit assumption of the original source of information (with reference
within the text), following the methodology of Quandt (2008).
Earlier research indicates that online journalism is highly dependent on external
sources and parent media. The “copy and paste” principle seems to be acceptable for some
online journalists; therefore, “shovelware” is the core material for many of the smaller news
sites (Quandt 2008, pp. 727–28).

1
Journal.
Journal.Media 2022,3 3, FOR PEER REVIEW
Media2022, 479 9

Figure 3. News items according to format.

Figure 3. News items according to format.

3.2. Our
Source of Information
findings show that andthis
Usedoes
of Hyperlinks
not only apply to online journalists but also to print
In our research, we coded any explicit
journalists, since to a very large extent, reference
the original sourceto aofsource at the beginning
information or end
is not identified.
of the
Astext
shownbut inalso
theany tacit assumption
relevant of the original
figure (see Figure source between
4), a difference of information (with
print and refer-
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ence within
media the text),
is observed, as following
print media thecontain
methodology of Quandt
a significantly (2008).
higher percentage of original
Earlier
reporting research
through primaryindicates that online
investigation journalism
as opposed is highly
to online mediadependent
which prefer oncurating
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content and parent
frommedia. The “copy
other sources. and paste”
A possible principle seems
explanation is that to be acceptable
prestige forputs
press still some
online journalists; therefore, “shovelware” is the core material for many of the smaller
original reporting at the forefront. In Greece, as Skamnakis (2018) points out, nine out of ten
news sites (Quandt 2008, pp. 727–28).
internet media sites republish articles that are mainly produced in print media without the
Our findings
permission of their show
authors,thatwho
thisaredoes
in not
the only apply
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professional journalists.butOur
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to print
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Journal. Media 2022, 3, FOR PEER REVIEW is10
have forAsmany
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providers of rawbetween printcontent,
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consistent observed,
Quandt’sas print
studymedia
(2008)contain
(Baerns,a cited
significantly
in Quandt higher percentage of original
2008).
reporting through primary investigation as opposed to online media which prefer curat-
ing content coming from other sources. A possible explanation is that prestige press still
puts original reporting at the forefront. In Greece, as Skamnakis (2018) points out, nine
out of ten internet media sites republish articles that are mainly produced in print media
without the permission of their authors, who are in the majority professional journalists.
Our finding that print media do not rely heavily on agency material, despite the fact that
news agencies have for many decades been considered the main providers of raw jour-
nalistic content, is consistent with Quandt’s study (2008) (Baerns, cited in Quandt 2008).
At this point, it is worth adding to our discussion the term “churnalism”, which is
used for a form of journalism that is a result of the growing need for news content (Saltzis
2012) in which press releases and other forms of prefabricated material are used to pro-
duce journalistic content in newspapers and other media, a “passive processing of news
material”, as Davies puts it (Davies 2008, p. 59). The term moved into mainstream jour-
nalism discourse, describing in less-than-complimentary terms the recycling process of
news production which drew increasingly on wire service copy and public relations (PR)
subsidies (Johnston and Forde 2017, p. 943). Saridou et al. in 2017 through quantitative
analysis provided empirical evidence that the recycling of news content from established
elite sources and across popular news sites has increased between 2013 and 2016, and their
main outcome
Figure was
4. Source of that “the current practice of churning designates that established elite
information.
Figure 4. Source of information.
sources and actors are the main shapers of the agenda and viewpoints circulating on the
Web”AtIt (Saridou
is possible,
this et therefore,
point, al. 2017).
it is worththat manyto
adding print
ourand online media
discussion do not
the term follow a transparent
“churnalism”, which
isand systematic
used editorial
for a form process, while
of journalism that isthe high degree
a result of theofgrowing
presenceneed
of news items in
for news which
content
the original source/author is not identified testifies to the growing risk of copy–paste
(Saltzis 2012) in which press releases and other forms of prefabricated material are used be-
coming a common practice for everyone.
Regarding the presence of hyperlinks, it should be mentioned that 62.1% of all online
publications include a hyperlink (link). The hyperlink mainly leads to an older post on the
same news site and more rarely to another site. Thus, one of the basic functions of multi-
media journalism is not utilized properly.
Journal. Media 2022, 3 480

to produce journalistic content in newspapers and other media, a “passive processing of

news material”, as Davies puts it (Davies 2008, p. 59). The term moved into mainstream
journalism discourse, describing in less-than-complimentary terms the recycling process of
news production which drew increasingly on wire service copy and public relations (PR)
subsidies (Johnston and Forde 2017, p. 943). Saridou et al. in 2017 through quantitative
analysis provided empirical evidence that the recycling of news content from established
elite sources and across popular news sites has increased between 2013 and 2016, and their
main outcome was that “the current practice of churning designates that established elite
sources
Figure 4.and actors
Source are the main shapers of the agenda and viewpoints circulating on the
of information.
Web” (Saridou et al. 2017).
ItItisispossible,
possible,therefore,
therefore,thatthatmany
manyprint
printandandonline
onlinemedia
mediado donot
notfollow
followaatransparent
transparent
and systematic editorial process, while the high degree of presence of newsitems
and systematic editorial process, while the high degree of presence of news itemsininwhich
which
theoriginal
the original source/author
source/author is is not
notidentified
identifiedtestifies
testifiestotothe
thegrowing
growing risk of of
risk copy–paste
copy–paste be-
coming a acommon
becoming commonpractice
practicefor foreveryone.
everyone.
Regardingthe
Regarding thepresence
presenceofofhyperlinks,
hyperlinks,ititshould
shouldbe bementioned
mentionedthat that62.1%
62.1%ofofallallonline
online
publications include a hyperlink (link). The hyperlink mainly leads to an older post onon
publications include a hyperlink (link). The hyperlink mainly leads to an older post the
the
samesame news newssitesite
andandmore more rarely
rarely to another
to another site. site.
Thus,Thus,
one ofonetheofbasic
the basic functions
functions of
of multi-
multimedia journalism is not utilized
media journalism is not utilized properly. properly.
InInterms
termsofofbasic actors
basic actors (see
(seeFigure 5), 5),
Figure top-down
top-down information
information from the Greek
from authorities
the Greek author-
isities
dominant. Our findings regarding the main protagonists are
is dominant. Our findings regarding the main protagonists are fully consistentfully consistent with what
with
has been recorded so far about the dominance of authorities regarding
what has been recorded so far about the dominance of authorities regarding health crises health crises in
the media
in the mediaagenda.
agenda.ShihShihet al. (2011,
et al. (2011,pp.pp.
17–18)
17–18)explain
explainthis
thisdominance
dominanceofofinstitutional
institutional
and administrative sources not only by the nature of health issues but also by the fact
and administrative sources not only by the nature of health issues but also by the fact that
that credible and authoritative sources meet the professional requirements and routines of
credible and authoritative sources meet the professional requirements and routines of
journalists. As she notices, journalists tend to present health issues from a rather official
journalists. As she notices, journalists tend to present health issues from a rather official
and general than from an individual human point of view.
and general than from an individual human point of view.

Figure5.5.Basic
Figure Basicactors.
actors.

In most of the publications, the government, through the daily press conference of
the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Professor Sotiris Tsiodras, and the Deputy
Minister of Civil Protection, Nikos Hardalias, was present as a key player in the media
arena. This is a reasonable finding given the fact that especially during the first period of the
general lockdown (March–April 2020), when fear prevailed, the main source of information
was the press conference held at 6 o’clock in the evening by Tsiodras and Hardalias on
 In most of the publications, the government, through the daily press conference of
the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Professor Sotiris Tsiodras, and the Deputy
Minister of Civil Protection, Nikos Hardalias, was present as a key player in the media
Journal. Media 2022, 3 arena. This is a reasonable finding given the fact that especially during the first period481 of
the general lockdown (March–April 2020), when fear prevailed, the main source of infor-
mation was the press conference held at 6 o’clock in the evening by Tsiodras and Harda-
lias coronavirus
new on new coronavirus developments.
developments. The professor
The professor and infectious
and infectious diseasesdiseases expert be-
expert became a
came a household name due to the daily briefings
household name due to the daily briefings he held for 72 consecutive days.he held for 72 consecutive days.
Whatisisinteresting
What interestingtotonote noteisisthat
thatthethe“rally-round-the-flag”
“rally-round-the-flag”effect effectwas
wasobserved
observed
worldwide,while
worldwide, whileititwaswasaccompanied
accompaniedby byan
anincrease
increasein inthe
thepopularity
popularityof ofpolitical
politicalleaders,
leaders,
whichmay
which maynotnot have
have hadhad anything
anything to with
to do do withtheirtheir
actualactual performance
performance in crisis
in crisis manage-
management,
asment,
Will as Will Jennings,
Jennings, Professor Professor of Political
of Political Science Science and Public
and Public Policy Policy
at theat University
the University of
of Southampton, noted on March 30 (The UK in a changing
Southampton, noted on March 30 (The UK in a changing Europe, 30 March 2020). Europe, 30 March 2020).
The“rally-round-the-flag”
The “rally-round-the-flag”effect effectcoined
coinedby byJohn
JohnMueller
Mueller(Mueller
(Mueller1970)
1970)suggests
suggeststhat that
inintimes
timesofofcrisis
crisiswhen
whenthe thenation
nationisisthreatened,
threatened,incumbent
incumbentleadersleadersbenefit
benefitfrom
fromaarise riseinin
publicsupport.
public support.It Itis is a concept
a concept usedused in political
in political science
science andand international
international relations
relations to ex-
to explain
plain
the the increased
increased short-term short-term
popularpopularsupportsupport of a country’s
of a country’s government government
or politicalor leaders
political
atleaders
times atof times
crisis of
or crisis
war. or war. Mueller
Mueller (1970) defined
(1970) defined it as coming
it as coming from anfrom eventanwith
eventthree
with
three qualities:
qualities: (a) has(a) has global
global range, range, (b) directly
(b) directly involves involves the country
the country and itsand its leader,
leader, and (c)and is
(c) is specific,
specific, dramatic,dramatic, and intensely
and intensely focused.focused.
Based on Based on theitabove,
the above, can be itconsidered
can be considered
that the
that the COVID-19
COVID-19 pandemicpandemic
shares these shares these characteristics.
characteristics.
Theexperts
The expertscome comeininthe thesecond
secondplaceplaceininthetheonline
onlinemedia
mediacoverage
coverageand andininthethefourth
fourth
ininprint.
print.This
Thisfinding
findingisiscompatible
compatiblewith withprevious
previousresearch,
research,as aswhen
whenititcomes
comestotocomplex
complex
topicsininthe
topics thefield
field
of of health
health andand riskrisk communication,
communication, as aforementioned,
as aforementioned, expertsexperts
are ofare
highof
high importance for the credibility of a news media report, and they are regarded as par-
importance for the credibility of a news media report, and they are regarded as particularly
ticularly influential
influential sources (Page sources
et al.(Page
1987,etp.al. 1987, p. 39).
39).
Celebrities, and other prominentpublic
Celebrities, and other prominent publicfigures,
figures,come
comesecond
secondto tolast
lastboth
bothininonline
online
andprint
and printmedia.
media.“The “Thepandemic
pandemichas hasdisrupted
disruptedrelations
relationsamong
amongthe themasses,
masses,the theelites
elitesand
and
thecelebrities
the celebritieswhowholiaise
liaisebetween
betweenthem,” them,”Amanda
AmandaHess Hess(Hess
(Hess2020)
2020)wrote
wrotein inthe
theNew
NewYork
York
Timeson
Times on30
30March
March2020.2020.InInthe
thelastlastplace
placeininboth
bothprint
printand
andonline
onlinemedia
mediacomecomepoliticians
politicians
either as individuals or through their parties.
either as individuals or through their parties.

3.3. Topics
3.3. Topics
The prevalent topic categories in both print and online media, as we can see in Figure 6,
The prevalent topic categories in both print and online media, as we can see in Figure
are international and society–human interest stories but in a different order.
6, are international and society–human interest stories but in a different order.

Figure6.6.Topic
Figure Topiccategories.
categories.

These findings are consistent with the fact that in the outbreak of the coronavirus,
the coverage of the pandemic in neighboring Italy was at the top of the agenda on a daily
basis, while in the days that followed, an important part of the agenda was devoted to the
pandemic management in the European countries. The trend for a transnational approach
is compatible with the findings from Finland and the European Journalism Observatory,
 These findings are consistent with the fact that in the outbreak of the coronavirus, the
coverage of the pandemic in neighboring Italy was at the top of the agenda on a daily
Journal. Media 2022, 3 basis, while in the days that followed, an important part of the agenda was devoted to 482 the
pandemic management in the European countries. The trend for a transnational approach
is compatible with the findings from Finland and the European Journalism Observatory,
whereititisispointed
where pointedout
out that
that “since
“since COVID-19
COVID-19 spread
spread in Italy,
in Italy, news news coverage
coverage in Finland
in Finland has
been explicitly transnational. Instead of focusing primarily on the impact that the virusthe
has been explicitly transnational. Instead of focusing primarily on the impact that vi-
may
rus may have on the Finnish population, news and commentary have
have on the Finnish population, news and commentary have focused on other countries”focused on other
countries”
(Hekkilla (Hekkilla 2020).
2020).
The topic category“society–human
The topic category “society–humaninterest
intereststories”
stories”includes
includesaawide
widerange
rangeof ofissues
issues
relatedto
related tohow
howthethepopulation
populationwill
willfollow
followthe
themeasures
measuresto toprevent
preventcoronavirus,
coronavirus,how howthe
the
churches will operate during Easter time, and also the measures which were
churches will operate during Easter time, and also the measures which were to be put in to be put in
effect during the Easter period. In the third place, the topic category “health and
effect during the Easter period. In the third place, the topic category “health and science” science”
hoststhe
hosts thelatest
latestdevelopments
developmentson onantibody
antibodytests,
tests,clinical
clinicaltrials
trialsofofvaccines,
vaccines,etc.
etc.

3.4.Hoaxes
3.4. Hoaxesand
andConspiracy
ConspiracyTheories
Theories
Asearlier
As earliermentioned,
mentioned,the theterm
terminfodemic
infodemichas hasbeen
beencoined
coinedto todescribe
describethethedangers
dangersof of
misinformation phenomena during the management of virus outbreaks, since it could
misinformation phenomena during the management of virus outbreaks, since it could even
even speed
speed up theup the epidemic
epidemic processprocess by influencing
by influencing and fragmenting
and fragmenting socialsocial response
response (Ci-
(Cinelli
etnelli et al. 2020).
al. 2020).
Whilesocial
While socialmedia
mediaplatforms,
platforms,suchsuchas asTwitter,
Twitter,maymayamplify
amplifyrumors
rumorsand andquestionable
questionable
information,our
information, ourassumption,
assumption, regarding
regarding print
print andand online
online media
media is that
is that professionalism
professionalism can
can function as a retarder in the dissemination of such narratives.
function as a retarder in the dissemination of such narratives.
Aswe
As weobserve
observeininthe
therelevant
relevantfigure
figure(see
(seeFigure
Figure7),7),the
thesystematic
systematicpresence
presenceof ofhoaxes
hoaxes
and conspiracy theories in print and online media is not confirmed. Conspiracy theories
and conspiracy theories in print and online media is not confirmed. Conspiracy theories are
are almost
almost entirely
entirely absent.
absent. TheirTheir presence
presence is limited,
is very very limited, withexception
with the the exception
of theof the news-
newspaper
paper Makelio
Makelio which which displays
displays a significant
a significant number number of articles
of articles containing
containing references
references to un-
to unsub-
stantiated the newspaper Eleftheri Ora
substantiated rumors and the newspaper Eleftheri Ora to a lesser extent. Both Makelioand
rumors and to a lesser extent. Both Makelio and
Eleftheri
EleftheriOra
Oraarearerather
rathercontroversial
controversialnewspapers.
newspapers. All All the
the other
other media
media take
take aa critical
critical view.
view.
An
Anenlightening
enlighteningexample
exampleof ofthe
theattitude
attitudeof ofprestige
prestigepress
presstoward
towardconspiracy
conspiracytheories
theoriesisis
the article in Kathimerini entitled “Looking for the vaccine for the COVID
the article in Kathimerini entitled “Looking for the vaccine for the COVID 10 conspiracy 10 conspiracy
theories”
theories”(“Kathimerini”,
(“Kathimerini”, 55 April
April 2020,
2020, p.p. 13).
13).

Figure7.7.Presence
Figure Presenceof
ofmisinformation
misinformationininprint
printand
andonline
onlinemedia.
media.

3.5.Human
3.5. Humanor orData
DataStories?
Stories?
While data
While data journalism
journalism has
has been
beendeveloping
developing in inrecent
recentyears
yearsworldwide,
worldwide, the
the Greek
Greek
media have not allocated special resources, material and human, for its development.The
media have not allocated special resources, material and human, for its development. The
coverage of
coverage ofthe
thecoronavirus
coronavirus crisis
crisisgave
gave aaboost
boosttotodata
dataininthe
theform
formofofinfographics
infographicsand
and
statistics. Personal
statistics. Personal opinions
opinions and
and human
human stories,
stories, as
as told
told by
bytheir
theirprotagonists,
protagonists,were
werealso
also
part of the media content.
part of the media content.
By examining the content of online media, we seek to highlight the extent to which
they make use of their multimedia capabilities, which have been mentioned before in
relation to hyperlinking. As we can see in the relevant figure (see Figure 8), most of the
online media use text as their main type of content, and only one-third offer a combination
of multimedia content. Statistically insignificant is the presence of news items that contain
only video or audio.

Journal. Media 2022, 3
By examining the content of online media, we seek to highlight the extent to which
they make use of their multimedia capabilities, which have been mentioned before in re-
lation to hyperlinking. As we can see in the relevant figure (see Figure 8), most of the
online media use text as their main type of content, and only one-third offer a combination483
of multimedia content. Statistically insignificant is the presence of news items that contain
only video or audio.

Journal. Media 2022, 3, FOR PEER REVIEW 14

Table 5. Most popular accounts by number of retweets.

Account (Screen Name) Number of Retweets

@MDenaxa (journalist) 527
@paganiotis (unknown id) 423
@serkot65 (Serafeim Kotrotsos, journalist) 301
@PithikosTapas (unknown id) 242
@Kinima_Ypervasi (self-identified as public movement) 208
@ManosVoularinos (comedian) 219
@Teletai_Mpouk (funeral services) 207
@Angelakard (unknown id) 145
@Kanekos69 (unknown id) 132
@GltLucia (unknown id) 122
Figure 8. Human vs.
@bkex Data stories.
(Voula Kexagia) journalist) 122
Figure 8. Human vs. Data stories.

4.4.Discussion
Discussion
Table on the
6. Official media
on the Content
accounts of
of Conversation
by number
Content of retweets. on
Conversation onTwitter
Twitter
InInthis
thissection,
section, wetake
Media Account
we take aa look
look atat the
the content
content ofof the conversation
Number
the taking
of Retweets
conversation takingplace
placeononTwit-
Twitter.
ter.continuously
By By continuously monitoring
amna_news (Athens News Agency)
monitoring Twitter’s
Twitter’s trending
trending topics,
topics, keywords,
115
keywords, andand sources
sources associ-
associated
atedCOVID-19,
with with COVID-19,
Iefimerida
we did weour
didbestourtobest to capture
capture conversations
conversations 89 related
related to thetopandemic
the pandemic and in
and in particular the
particular theProtothema.gr end of its first phase, known
end of its first phase, known as the lockdown as the lockdown period (karantina). What
57 period (karantina). What are
aremost
the the most prevalent
Makeleio.gr
prevalent wordswords
andand themes
themes of discussion
of discussion taking
taking 55 place
place about
about COVID-19?
COVID-19?
As we see
As we see in in the
Ethnosgr word cloud (Figure 9) and the
the word cloud (Figure 9) and the relevant relevant Table 4, the most
24 Table 4, the most frequently
frequently
used words in tweets
used words inKathimerini_gr are quarantine and pandemic.
tweets are quarantine and pandemic. Table 5 shows Table 5 shows the most popular
22 the most popular accounts ac-
counts in
in our sample. our sample.
zougla_onlineIt is worth noticing that the
It is worth noticing that the accounts of two accounts of two journalists are in
20 journalists are in the first the
first three
three places.places. The
TheIn.gr finding
finding provesprovesthatthat journalists
journalists areare considered
10
considered ananimportant
importantsource
source of
of information.
information. On On thethe
Newsbomb otherhand,
other hand,asaswe wesee
see in
in Table
Table 6,6, the
theofficial
9 media
official mediaaccounts
accounts areare
notnot
popular, as their tweets
ta_nea are very few times
popular, as their tweets are very few times retweeted. retweeted. 6

Table 4. Top 10 most frequently used words in tweets.

Word Volume
Quarantine 14,963
Pandemic 7206
Mitsotakis 272
Lockdown 245
Italy 186
Vaccine 139
Theodoridou 105
Tsiodras 110
Chardalias 90
China 66
Trump 65

Figure
Figure9.9.Word
Wordcloud of frequently
cloud mentioned
of frequently wordswords
mentioned in COVID-19 tweets. tweets.
in COVID-19
Journal. Media 2022, 3 484

Table 4. Top 10 most frequently used words in tweets.

Word Volume
Quarantine 14,963
Pandemic 7206
Mitsotakis 272
Lockdown 245
Italy 186
Vaccine 139
Theodoridou 105
Tsiodras 110
Chardalias 90
China 66
Trump 65

Table 5. Most popular accounts by number of retweets.

Account (Screen Name) Number of Retweets

@MDenaxa (journalist) 527
@paganiotis (unknown id) 423
@serkot65 (Serafeim Kotrotsos, journalist) 301
@PithikosTapas (unknown id) 242
@Kinima_Ypervasi (self-identified as public movement) 208
@ManosVoularinos (comedian) 219
@Teletai_Mpouk (funeral services) 207
@Angelakard (unknown id) 145
@Kanekos69 (unknown id) 132
@GltLucia (unknown id) 122
@bkex (Voula Kexagia) journalist) 122

Table 6. Official media accounts by number of retweets.

Media Account Number of Retweets

amna_news (Athens News Agency) 115
Iefimerida 89
Protothema.gr 57
Makeleio.gr 55
Ethnosgr 24
Kathimerini_gr 22
zougla_online 20
In.gr 10
Newsbomb 9
ta_nea 6

Main Topics
From the analyzed tweets, we identified topics that were grouped into seven themes:
the fear of a second lockdown, the violation of the quarantine rules and the specific case
of the daughter of a famous Greek singer that received massive attention, issues of public
health, xenophobic and racism issues, conspiracy theories, criticism of the government,
and humorous tweets.
Theme 1: The fear of a second quarantine
The topic with the most retweets was the possibility of a second quarantine with
1112 references.
Examples of the most retweeted are presented in Table 7:
Journal. Media 2022, 3 485

Table 7. Tweets regarding the fear of a second quarantine.

Account (Screen Name) Tweet Number of Retweets

If we go for a second lockdown,
@a_olimpia instead of a bathing suit we will 45
need a gaberdine
Sweet boys and girls put your
@variemaikpeinaw masks on until I come so the second 22
lockdown finds me in Greece

Theme 2: The violation of the quarantine rules and the case of the young student
that returned from the UK
Another one of the most popular topics for the same period has been the party held
by the daughter of a famous Greek singer who returned from her studies in the UK and
did not comply with the rules for a 14-day quarantine.
Most of the tweets, on the day news about the party was spread (2/6), have been about
that party. A total of 344 tweets contain the term “student” and 105 the term “Theodoridou”,
who is the mother of the girl. The most popular of the tweets has been the one that used
the title of a famous song by the mother of the student “Wanted” (Kataziteitai) to refer to
the issue.
Examples are presented in Table 8:

Table 8. Tweets regarding the violation of the quarantine rules.

Account (Screen Name) Tweet Number of Retweets

The student who broke the quarantine
@paganiotis 94
and held a party is wanted
Wanted, wanted (after the song of her
@PithikosTapas 101
famous mother)
I think we all know that someone who
@ManosVoularinos returns from the UK and breaks the 10
quarantine should pay a fine
The daughter of a well known family in
Thessaloniki returns from the UK
@gesta_res 3
where she studies and doesn’t follow
the quarantine as obliged
Yes, mate. The daughter of
Theodoridou and businessman Mpetas
@IsidorosLos 9
came back from London and didn’t stay
in quarantine for 14 days
The girl returned via Bulgaria. She was
@Sampsonius_ 18
so happy that broke the quarantine

Theme 3: Public health

The issues of public health keep special visibility. One of the most retweeted posts has
been that by @GltLucia: “If the pandemic has taught us anything it is that Public Health
with its human resources and structures is irreplaceable”. On 29 May, it was the most
popular tweet with over 120 retweets.
On the same day, the tweet by journalist Serafeim Kotrotsos (@serkot65) brought
to attention the case of a top pediatric heart surgeon, who asked to volunteer during
the pandemic at “Agia Sophia” children’s hospital and the administration of the hospital
reportedly refused to let him. This was the most popular tweet with 290 retweets:@serkot65:
“Top pediatric heart surgeon asked to volunteer for the pandemic and the administration of
“Agia Sofia” provocatively ignored him.”At the same time, RT @krissgr expressed criticism
Journal. Media 2022, 3 486

of the government’s handling of public health issues, stating that “public health is “the best
part of the meat” which should be given to the owners of private clinics” (22 retweets).
Theme 4: Racism and xenophobic issues
A special place on the agenda was held by issues of migration and refugees. Criticism
is being expressed that refugees are better treated at the expense of Greek citizens.
Here are some tweets of this category:
@george_lykos: “Look here at what happens in Pedio Areos (park in Athens where
refugees gather). All women wear scarves and carry prams with children and we offer
them everything for free.”
Another one with 140 retweets is that by @angie22gr who writes “the illegal immi-
grants (referred as lathro) smashed everything in a hotel in Ermionida because they don’t
like the quarantine. My little birds are oppressed. Whoever comes to escape from any hell
and is hosted with all his good deeds does not react like that. Should they be deported
right now?”
However, at the same time, a different opinion is expressed by @FakeVolante who says,
“we pay the quarantine for the all-inclusive tourists and we leave the children refugees
under the rain and the hot sun” (47 retweets).
Theme 5: Conspiracy theories
Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, several conspiracy theories had been
circulating. None of them appeared in our data, except for a few negative references to
Sotiris Tsiodras, the doctor in charge of Greece’s management of the coronavirus. These very
few tweets say that he is sponsored by the big pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline
and that he is the one who suggested the purchase of the vaccines for H1N1 which went to
the garbage a few years ago.
The tweet by @gelosoil calls him a vaccine seller, a crook. At the same time, tweets
that question the existence of COVID-19 are scarce, such as this one addressed to the Prime
Minister:
@PrimeministerGR: “When you say scientific community, you mean the crook, the
thief Tsiodras who presented false information about deaths and did not know what a
pandemic is and if a mask is needed.”
Theme 6: Criticism of the government
The most popular is the tweet by journalist Maria Denaxa (@mdenaxa) who questions
the decision of the government to cover the costs for the tourists who come from abroad
and have to stay in quarantine: “The Greek tax payer will pay 135 euros per day and
per traveler for the quarantine of the tourists that come to Greece”. This was retweeted
527 times.
As we can observe in Table 9 the most serious field of controversy between the
government and the opposition that was transferred to Twitter has been the distribution of
money in each medium for the campaign #stay safe (menoyme asfaleis):

Table 9. Tweets conveying government criticism.

Account (Screen Name) Tweet Number of Retweets

Efimerida twn Syntaktwn (daily
@tetRadio newspaper) received 39 thousand 64
euros for the campaign # stay safe
The most anti-educational bill,
concerning the future of our
children, was passed by #New
@el_ges Democracy kseftiles (a word used 6
to show disgrace) and at the same
time money were given to
non-existent media.
Journal. Media 2022, 3 487

Table 9. Cont.

Account (Screen Name) Tweet Number of Retweets

@SteliosPetsas (government
spokesman) said that #Documento
didn’t get advertising money
@ofp8791 4
because it says that
#COVID19greece is a lie. What a
punk!
I live in a country that frees
pedophiles, closes hospitals that
@_plystra 22
treat children but advertises the
campaign #stay safe
The 20 million “for our protection”
from the coronavirus were
@aigeas 10
distribute to “ghost” companies and
to the pockets “of our favorites”.

Theme 7: Humorous tweets

Finally, there is the category of humorous tweets. In this category, a funeral home
posts the most popular tweets. It is the account @Teletai_Mpouk with 208 retweets.
Another tweet indicative of this group of tweets is that by @Boubounokefalos: “It is
not that I got fat during the quarantine, but now I have to use air freshener” (instead of
perfume). This was retweeted 172 times on 31 May 2020.

5. Conclusions
This research was an attempt to answer some initial questions regarding the modus
operandi of media and digital platforms in the COVID-19 era, most importantly, their
contribution to the rise/decline of the authority of scientific expertise and their role in
mis/disinformation around health and science controversies produced, distributed, and
redistributed in offline and digital environments. It also tried to reveal different patterns
in journalistic conventions between old/new media and social media, using the Greek
information ecosystem as a case study.
The COVID-19 pandemic due to its unprecedented dimension and intensity, but also
its disruptive nature, is an important opportunity for study that will provide additional
tools for enabling journalists to help the public make better-informed decisions in similar
situations in the future. At the same time, it gave us the opportunity to study the role
of professional media outlets and social media in the circulation of information and their
contribution to helping people make better sense of the pandemic.
According to our findings, the Greek media faced the crisis “with a view to the world”,
emphasizing international coverage, giving priority to the authorities and scientists, and
keeping (at least in their majority) hoaxes and conspiracy theories out of the agenda. On
the other hand, the timeline of the Greek Twitter is related to current events, either as
updates to an unfolding story or as reactions to ongoing events, a finding consistent with
the observation by Hermida and Mellado (2020).
What we observed in our research is that:
#1: News coverage in Greece has been explicitly transnational, focusing on other
countries and especially the Mediterranean ones, which have been hit the hardest by
COVID-19.
#2: Different patterns in journalistic conventions are observed between our two data
sets, especially regarding the rhetorical practices. Both print and electronic news media
seem to follow traditional patterns of news reporting. Tweets tend to be more emotional
and, in some occasions, very different to the rhetorical practices of traditional journalism
as the verbal and visual style of the platforms favors short and catchy messages, while
retweets are means to assign prominence and visibility (Hermida and Mellado 2020). Also,
Journal. Media 2022, 3 488

the use of Twitter by journalists is very interesting, as from what our data set reveals, some
of them are very popular and active on the Greek Twittersphere. It would be an interesting
future work to examine the tweeting norms and habits (self-branding, personalization) of
professionals. For example, during public health crises, do Greek journalists use Twitter as
a tool for gathering and disseminating news or as a vehicle to express criticism? An initial
observation is that the Greek Twittersphere is not so much a significant source of events
whose rapid development cannot be captured live by traditional platforms but rather an
opinion forum, where diverse and often critical views are expressed.
#3: The authorities set the tone: our findings regarding the basic actors are fully
compatible with what has been recorded about the dominance, globally, of the authorities
in the media agenda. In most of the news items, the government, through the daily
press conference, was present as a key player in the media arena. The response to the
government’s actions—at least at the first stage of the COVID-19 outbreak—was almost
entirely positive, verifying the “rally-round-the-flag” phenomenon, which suggests that
in times of crisis when the nation is threatened, incumbent leaders benefit from a rise in
public support. On the other hand, experts and the representatives of scientific institutions
are given prominence in media coverage, and therefore, the spreading of misinformation is
limited.
#4: Extensive presence of hoaxes and conspiracy theories in the print and electronic
press is not confirmed. We should also underline that we encountered only a limited
number of tweets circulating fully fabricated stories. That is interesting as there is a
widespread belief that for social media, unlike more traditional outlets, the spread of
information is less tied to content accuracy. Consistent with Brennen et al. (2020, p. 6)
is also our finding that across the sample, the most common claims within pieces of
misinformation concern the actions or policies that public authorities are taking to address
COVID-19, whether individual national/regional/local governments, health authorities, or
international bodies such as the WHO and the UN. Therefore, we propose that we need
more evidence about the types and sources of COVID-19 mis/disinformation to reach
conclusive results.
This study does not pretend to capture all aspects of the problem but rather brings
forward some of the basic parameters that can enlighten the complex relationship between
different platforms in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, I.K.; methodology, I.K.; software, R.K.; validation, I.K.
and R.K.; formal analysis, I.K. and R.K.; investigation, I.K.; resources, I.K.; data curation, R.K.;
writing—original draft preparation, I.K.; writing—review and editing, I.K.; visualization, I.K. All
authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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