How in 10 weeks the pandemic news occupied the information stream.
Once upon a time there was a sick bat somewhere in Asia… nobody imagined that would be the beginning of the most terrible tale of the 21st century.
By the spring of 2020 there were maybe a handful of people worldwide who hadn't heard of the coronavirus. In Europe, there was probably not a single one who wasn't aware of the COVID-19 outbreak. Within only three months, the epidemic became a pandemic - capturing the thoughts of all people, the actions of every institution, and (last but not least) the bulk of media attention and content.
Let's look at how this played out in Bulgaria and across several Balkan countries during those weeks. This in-depth analysis was produced using Perceptica's media listening platform.
How did it all start?
The coronavirus was first announced in December 2019. The news came from China: on 31 December, an unknown form of pneumonia was declared in Wuhan. In the first days of 2020, scientists found this was a new type of virus, and it began spreading across Asia.
Meanwhile, almost zero news coverage of the unknown disease was registered in the Balkan countries. That trend continued until the end of January.
When the coronavirus got closer
Around 20 January 2020, the first cases of coronavirus outside Wuhan began to appear, including the first case in the US. COVID-19-related news started to surface in Balkan media at a low frequency. Over the next weeks, coronavirus-related content in Bulgarian, Romanian and North Macedonian media varied between 5 and 7% of the total information stream. In Serbia the share was even lower - around 1%.
By the end of February, reported cases in Italy jumped from 5 to 120. The Italian government took emergency measures; the Trump administration asked Congress for $1.25 billion in coronavirus response funding.
Media interest spiked sharply. The share of COVID-19-related coverage rose to around 20% in Bulgaria, Romania and North Macedonia. Serbia barely moved - just 3%.
Early March: media interest explodes
After the first registered cases in the Balkans, media in Bulgaria and Romania began publishing coronavirus-related content above all other topics. The share of COVID-19 news jumped to over 50%. Serbia rose too - to 30% - but stayed noticeably lower than its neighbours.
In Bulgaria, every second publication was coronavirus-related
News about the coronavirus reached up to 60% of the entire information stream in Bulgaria during the most intense week. A similar pattern unfolded across Romanian and North Macedonian media.
Serbia remained the exception. Their media reaction to the global pandemic was not as aggressive as elsewhere - even though the government's emergency measures were similar to Bulgaria's. Despite case counts being roughly twice those in Bulgaria, media focus on the topic did not exceed 30%.
TV media during the pandemic
TV proved to be the most "infected" medium in Bulgaria. COVID-19-related news occupied 75% of the content on the country's most-watched channels - BNT, BTV and Nova TV - over a three-week stretch.
The most-mentioned people during the pandemic in Bulgaria, in March 2020, were:
- Major General Prof. Ventsislav Mutafchiyski
- Prime Minister Boyko Borisov
- Minister of Health Kiril Ananiev
- President Rumen Radev
- Chief Public Prosecutor Ivan Geshev
Want to dig deeper?
Perceptica delivers daily reports and newsletters on the coronavirus outbreak across the Balkan region. Find out how our media monitoring platform can help you handle a fast-moving information stream - and request a demo to see it in action.