Análisis de los contenidos publicados por el diario El Comercio a través de la red social Facebook referentes al Covid -19 desde el 17 de marzo hasta el 30 de marzo del 2020

Abstract

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the COVID -19 coronavirus a pandemic (OPS & OMS, 2020). To stop the spread of the virus many countries adopting different measures, including quarantine. This forced people to stay in their homes, avoid contact with outsiders, maintain continuous disinfection of hands and objects, try to go out into the streets for what is merely necessary. Faced with such a panorama, the eagerness to stay informed on the part of the masses was inevitable, for which they resorted to technology, making use of their mobile devices to access the different information portals. Although, before the pandemic it was common to see people browsing their smartphones, during isolation an expected behavior was the increase in access and use of social networks, whether they are for information, communication or entertainment (OPS, 2020a). Faced with this scenario, the media found it necessary to transform and better adapt their content to the web, in order to be able to correctly inform the public. Certain media had already ventured into the digital modality before, so this situation was not something new, but for others who had preferred to stay traditional, they had to redouble their efforts to give their content digitality. During this abundance of digital information, the media had to face one of their greatest challenges, the “Fake News”. According to Mendoza (2020), false news during the pandemic increased due to the ease with which it spread and the impact it generated. In an outlook of a global health crisis, this issue is sensitive, because incorrect information has the ability to put people's health and integrity at risk. 3 To help journalism professionals in their work, the WHO issued a guide for journalists, a document which provides: Tools for journalists to conduct responsible coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and provide evidence-based information. Approaches to coverage are also proposed and journalism is encouraged to provide advice and solutions that help reduce health risks and save lives. (PAHO & WHO, 2020b, parr. 1). This research was carried out based on this document, to determine the informational treatment that has been given to the information published by the newspaper El Comercio on its social network Facebook.