This paper aims to analyse the frames applied by the Portuguese media to two countries – Brazil and Sweden- which did not adopt the mandatory lockdown during the first phase of the Covid pandemic as a measure to curb contagion. In a period in which Covid death tolls became ubiquitous in the news, countries that refused to impose restrictive measures, such as social distancing and masks, were frequently highlighted in the media. The aim of this presentation is to explore the different value judgements attributed to the two above-mentioned countries in their defiance of consensual forms of combating the Coronavirus. Our research objective will be achieved by comparing the frames applied to the same themes in different national and cultural contexts. The analytic corpus will consist in the digital version of the newspapers Diário de Notícias (DN) and Público. The selection of these publications is due to the high levels of trust that both elicit. According to the Digital News Report 2021, published by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 78% of respondents indicated trust in DN and 76% trusted Público. As for the time-frame, our study will concentrate on the period ranging from March to May 2020, corresponding to the beginning of the pandemic, a phase marked by uncertainties and the adherence to the 'social distancing' model as necessary in the fight against the Coronavirus. Methodologically, we will take recourse in valence frame theory (Boomgaarden and De Vreese 2003) for comparison of the frames applied to Covid coverage in Brazil and Sweden. Valence frames allow us to see how the same information is cast from a positive or negative perspective, depending on the ‘central organising idea’ (Gamson & Modigliani 1987) which confers meaning to a flow of events by giving salience to particular aspects over others. Framing thus seeks to understand how definitions of events come to be promoted, contributing, in the process, to the public's ‘moral evaluation’ of the issue portrayed (Entman 1993; Tewksbury & Scheufele 2019). In the Brazilian case, Bolsonaro's conduct was the main organizing principle that conditioned interpretation of how Brazil dealt with the pandemic during the time-period analysed. Indeed, the Brazilian president’s inaction in decision-making processes (cf. Ortega & Orsini 2020) is often represented in a derisive, top-down tone. In the Swedish case, although the country received criticism for its lack of active intervention against Covid, an effort was made to understand deeper issues about the Swedish model to fight the pandemic. By focusing on the different valence frames applied to these two different countries which opted for a liberal approach towards the pandemic without the imposition of compulsory quarantine, we aim to show how stereotypes are unwittingly perpetuated through media promotion of preferred readings (Hall 1973). We will argue that these preferred readings are partly conditioned by shared understandings of Sweden as a model society, corresponding to ‘Nordic’ and ‘European’ advancement, and Brazil as a developing country whose past is related to Portugal, from a perspective of colonial domination. References: Boomgaarden, H./De Vreese, C. (2003) ‘Valenced news frames and public support for the EU’. In: Communications, Vol. 28, pp. 361–381. Entman, R. (1993) ‘Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm.’ Journal of Communication 43(4): 51–58. Gamson, W. & Modigliani, A. (1989). Media discourse and public opinion on nuclear power: A constructionist approach. American Journal of Sociology 95, 1-37. Hall, S. (1973) ‘Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse’. Stencilled Occasional Paper. Birmingham: Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. Obercom – Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2021) Digital News Report Portugal 2021. Lisbon: Obercom/ISCTE MediaLab. Ortega F & Orsini M. (2020) Governing COVID-19 without government in Brazil: Ignorance, neoliberal authoritarianism, and the collapse of public health leadership. Global Public Health: 1257-1277. Tewksbury, D. H., & Scheufele, D. A. (2019). News Framing Theory and Research. In M. B. Oliver et al. (Eds.) Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research. London: Routledge, pp. 51-68.

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Media and the pandemic,Valence Frames,Media Stereotypes,News Media,Global Health Crises