COVID-19 백신 보도의 정치화와 극화: 주요 언론의 사설 분석

국문 초록 (Abstract)

과학기술 위험 이슈에 대한 언론 보도의 정치화와 극화 연구는 최근 과학커뮤니케이션 연구자들의 주요 관심사로 떠오르고 있다. 정치화·극화된 언론 보도는 과학기술 위험 이슈를 정치 쟁점화하고 여론을 정파적으로 분화시켜 합리적인 여론 형성과 대안 도출에 부정적인 영향을 미칠 수 있다. 이런 관점에서 이 연구는 현재 가장 첨예한 위험 이슈이자 과학기술적 쟁점인 COVID-19 백신과 관련된 주요 신문의 사설을 분석함으로써, 감염병 관련 언론 보도가 정치화 되고 극화된 양상을 탐색했다. 구체적으로, 전략 프레임의 비중과 정치인 취재원의 활용 정도를 통해 정치화를 분석했으며, 대상에 따른 논조 방향과 강도의 차이를 통해 보도의 극화 양상을 분석했다. 2020년 1월부터 2021년 6월까지 경향신문, 동아일보, 조선일보, 한겨레 등 4개 언론사에 보도된 COVID-19 백신 관련 사설을 분석한 결과, 다음과 같은 연구 결과를 도출했다. 첫째, 정치화 분석을 위해 전략 프레임 활용 정도를 살펴본 결과, 조선일보가 전략 프레임을 압도적으로 많이 사용한 가운데, 나머지 언론사는 이슈의 책임 소재와 대안에 초점을 맞추는 이슈 프레임을 더 비중 있게 활용한 것으로 나타났다. 특히 조선일보가 전략 프레임으로 보도한 사설의 대부분은 백신 문제를 과학기술 위험 이슈가 아닌 제도정치권의 쟁점 사안으로 접근했다. 둘째, 취재원 분석 결과, 4개 언론사 모두 전체 취재원 대비 정치인의 비중이 높게 나타났다. COVID-19 백신이 과학기술 및 의학적 이슈임에도 불구하고 해당 분야의 전문가가 아닌 정치인의 등장 비율이 높다는 점은 백신 보도의 정치화를 보여주는 단적인 특징이다. 셋째, 극화 분석 결과 4개 매체 모두 COVID-19 백신 관련 보도가 정치적으로 분화됐음을 확인했다. 단일 매체 내에서뿐만 아니라 매체 간에도 보도 대상의 정파성에 따라 논조의 방향이 상이해지는 양상이 관찰됐다. 이 결과를 토대로, COVID-19 백신 보도의 정치화와 극화가 여론 형성과 정책 결정에 미칠 영향에 대해 논의했다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Politicization and polarization in the news coverage of science and technology risk issues have recently emerged as a major concern for scientific communication researchers. Politicized and polarized media coverage may turn science/technology-based risk issues into political controversies, leading public opinion divided along a partisan line. In this regard, this study explored how the news coverage of the current pandemic has been politicized and polarized by analyzing the editorials of the COVID-19 vaccines published by the four leading national newspapers(Kyunghyang, Dong-A, Chosun, and Hankyoreh) from January 2020 to June 2021. Specifically, politicization was analyzed as the proportion of strategic frames and that of politicians utilized as major sources. Polarization was examined in terms of how the direction and intensity of the coverage tone differed depending on the partisan affiliation of the target of the news. According to the results of the content analysis, first, the Chosun Ilbo overwhelmingly used the strategic frame, while the rest of the newspapers mainly used issue frames focusing on responsibility and possible alternatives related to vaccine issues. In particular, most of the strategic editorials in the Chosun Ilbo approached the issue of the COVID-19 vaccine as a inter-political debate, rather than as a scientific risk issue. Second, according to the analysis of the patterns of sourcing, the proportion of politicians was much higher than that of medical experts or other scientists in all four newspapers, which is a strong indicator of the politicization of the vaccine coverage. Third, the editorial"s tone(positive versus negative) was differentiated by the political orientation of the main target of the coverage. This was observed not only within a newspaper but also among newspapers. The implications of the study of were discussed in detail.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 1. 서론
• 2. 선행연구와 이론적 배경
• 3. 연구 방법
• 4. 연구 결과
• 5. 결론
• 참고문헌

참고문헌 (Reference)

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