This article offers an empirical examination of the power of independent news blogs to expand the boundaries of public debates, through their capacity not only to host volumes of information but also to frame it in unique packages. Despite the scholarly attention given to blogs as a counterforce to traditional news media, there are unanswered questions regarding the discrepancy in the qualitative characteristics of the debates promoted by these two realms. We aim to offer an empirical test of this potential gap with an innovative content analysis that draws on framing research and corpus linguistic techniques. This is performed in the context of Greece, where a rapid increase in the volume of blogging has created a new platform for political debate. Through a computer-assisted qualitative frame analysis of partisan newspapers and independent news blogs, we find differences in the breadth of certain frames that could prove significant for audiences’ understanding of current affairs.

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The systematic coverage of the coronavirus pandemic by the Greek mass media began in February 2020, specifically, from the time the virus made its appearance in the most significant way in Italy. Until then, news about the virus had been sporadically visible depending mainly on news reports coming from the international media and press agencies. The assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic as an “infodemic” by the World Health Organization (WHO) made obvious the need to study media coverage and map its patterns, along with the unprecedented political and social response and the massive consequences on the global economy. Through a large content analysis, containing 7457 news items from 13 different media outlets, plus a comparative Twitter analysis of 36,317 tweets, we took the present situation as an opportunity to collect real-time data but also as a point of departure for addressing issues connected to journalistic practices and technological changes in the framework of COVID-19. According to our findings, the Greek media faced the crisis “with a view to the world”, emphasizing international coverage, giving priority to the authorities and scientists, and keeping (at least in their majority) hoaxes and conspiracy theories out of the agenda.

News and journalism practices are undergoing complex changes under the influence of technology. As the internet facilitates new ways of collecting and reporting information, conceptions of journalistic identity based on normative values such as objectivity, impartiality and gatekeeping are being contested. These ideals have become a central reference point in empirical evaluations of technological innovations in journalism cultures. However, as they are engrained in Western models of news production, they often mask the nuances that exist in the appropriation of the internet in different locales. In order to offer a better understanding of online technologies as they are adapted in different cultures, online journalism research can benefit from more conceptual clarity in defining journalism culture. We argue that such clarity can assist in capturing the complexity of online journalism as the outcome of profound changes taking place in different societies. We aim to contribute to current debates by borrowing an existing theoretical conceptualization of journalism culture to explore online journalism in Greece. Through interviews with professional journalists, we show the nuances of online journalism as this evolves through a dynamic interaction between technology and local contingencies in a climate of financial uncertainty.

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