Abstract

This study presents a comparative analysis of the CDC’s (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) press releases and The Washington Post's coverage of COVID-19, investigating their network agenda-building strategies during the early stages of the pandemic. Guided by framing theory and networked agenda-building theory, this study analyzes 80 press releases and 750 news articles. The findings reveal that the CDC emphasized frames such as COVID-19, response efforts, and quarantine measures, while The Washington Post predominantly utilized frames related to COVID-19, vaccination, and response. The Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) analysis demonstrates that the CDC's framing had a positive but moderate influence (r = 42.573, p = 0.000) on The Washington Post’s framing agenda. While the CDC focused on promoting COVID-19 safety measures, The Washington Post concentrated on providing vaccination information to save lives during the early days of the pandemic. This study provides new insights into the influence of government organizations on leading newspapers and highlights the distinct strategies used to communicate with the public during a crisis.

Key Words: COVID-19, CDC, Framing, The Washington Post, Network Agenda Building

About the Authors

*Rubaiya Zannat is an Assistant Professor of Mass Communication and Journalism at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and a doctoral student in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Southern Mississippi, USA. Her research focuses on health communication, particularly social media, strategic communication, and risk and crisis communication.

**Hasan Mahmud Faisal is a lecturer at Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh and a doctoral student in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Southern Mississippi, USA. His research interests include health communication, risk and crisis communication, message design, and social media.

^JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 17, No. 1, April 2025, pp. 37-50.

© Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON).

Article Citation

Zannat, R. & Faisal, H. M. (2025). From Guidelines to Headlines: A comparative analysis of the press releases of the Centre for Disease Control and the news reports of The Washington Post on COVID-19. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 17 (1): 37-50.

Full Article

Words: 7,089

Pages: 14

To access full article, click on download.