Journalistic Quality and Coverage of COVID-19 in Ecuadorian Digital Native Media

Abstract

The arrival of coronavirus in Ecuador posed challenges in various areas, such as the media. This work presents a quantitative content analysis that measures the presence or absence of journalistic quality criteria for the coverage of COVID-19 in the country. This research analyzes the news published by four digital native media
during the period from March to May 2020, the first quarter of the health emergency. Different variables addressed by a study inspired by the Journalistic Value Added Method (VAP) were identified. This instrument allows us to compare journalistic work during catastrophes with the traditional patterns of journalism and, from
this, to analyze the deficiencies and difficulties in this type of coverage.