This study examines the level of politicization and polarization in COVID-19 news in U.S. newspapers and televised network news from March to May 2020. Using multiple computer-assisted content analytic approaches, we find that newspaper coverage is highly politicized, network news coverage somewhat less so, and both newspaper and network news coverage are highly polarized. We find that politicians appear in newspaper coverage more frequently than scientists, whereas politicians and scientists are more equally featured in network news. We suggest that the high degree of politicization and polarization in initial COVID-19 coverage may have contributed to polarization in U.S. COVID-19 attitudes.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 新闻报道中的政治化和两极分化


本研究考察了 2020 年 3 月至 5 月美国报纸和电视网络新闻中的 COVID-19 新闻的政治化和两极分化程度。使用多种计算机辅助内容分析方法，我们发现报纸报道高度政治化，网络新闻报道政治化程度稍低因此，报纸和网络新闻报道都高度两极分化。我们发现政治人物出现在报纸报道中的频率高于科学家，而政治人物和科学家出现在网络新闻中的频率则更为平等。我们认为，最初的 COVID-19 报道中的高度政治化和两极分化可能导致了美国对 COVID-19 态度的两极分化。