During the COVID-19 crisis, the media acted as an important source of information through which political and health, as well as other relevant actors in media coverage, informed and communicated with the general public. They were also a window into the world through which the public could follow current developments related to COVID-19 and form their views and opinions on certain topics, including in relation to youth. The main interest of my master's thesis is how topics related to young people were framed in Slovenian online media during COVID-19 and what depictions of young people were shown in various media frames. I look for answers to the research questions by conducting a qualitative and, in part, quantitative analysis of media framing through different time periods during the second wave of COVID-19. I note that Slovenian online media framed topics related to youth mainly in an educational and political way. In addition, the attribution of responsibility frame and social frame also established themselves as strong at certain times. In media coverage, young people were portrayed very homogeneously and framed mostly as powerless, but also as vulnerable, active and problematic. Although young people were one of the main actors in media coverage, adults were established as stronger and more exposed actors in the media.
|
