Study title

News Articles about COVID-19 in Helsingin Sanomat, Asahi Shimbun and Dagens Nyheter 2020

Dataset ID Number

FSD3723

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3723
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3723

Data Type

Qualitative

Authors

• Kangas, Kaisa (University of Helsinki)

Abstract

The data consist of news articles about COVID-19 published in the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The articles include medical and scientific information and expert opinions relating to COVID-19 from the first few months of the pandemic. The data also contain a list of similar articles that were published in the newspapers Dagens Nyheter (Sweden) and Asahi Shimbun (Japan). The data were originally collected for the research project 'The politicization of science in the corona news', funded by the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation.

A list of publication and author information for the Helsingin Sanomat news articles compiled by the researcher is also available. It is possible to connect the publication and author information to each article by using the date included in the names of the html files. The names of the html files begin with FSD's dataset ID.

The dataset is only available in Finnish.

Keywords

COVID-19; bacterial and virus diseases; information sources; news; newspapers; specialists

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Medical and health sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Natural sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Media (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Public health (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

• Kangas, Kaisa

Funders

• Helsingin Sanomat Foundation

Time Period Covered

2020-02-24 – 2020-06-15

Collection Dates

2020-02-24 – 2020-06-15

Nation

Finland, Sweden, Japan

Geographical Coverage

Finland, Sweden, Japan

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Media unit: Text

Event/Process/Activity

Universe

News articles about COVID-19

Time Method

Cross-section

Data Sources

Helsingin Sanomat

Asahi Shimbun

Dagens Nyheter

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Purposive

The researcher collected news articles about COVID-19 from three newspapers: Helsingin Sanomat (HS), Dagens Nyheter (DN) and Asahi Shimbun (AS). The data archived at FSD only contain lists of publication information for the articles published in DN and AS, not the articles themselves. The researcher requested the material from Helsingin Sanomat and received all news articles published between 13 March and 15 June 2020 that included the word 'korona' (corona). 13 March was selected as the starting point of the analysis period as on that date many media outlets reported that the epidemic phase was about to begin. 15 June was selected as the ending point as the state of emergency was lifted on the following day in Finland. From these articles, the researcher selected those that contained scientific information or expert opinions on the virus itself. The articles published in DN (295 articles) were collected following the same criteria between 1 March and 15 June 2020 by using the search function on the newspaper's website to search for the keyword 'corona'. The analysis period for DN begins earlier as the epidemic phase began earlier in Sweden than in Finland. The articles published in AS (638 articles) were collected with a similar keyword search between 24 February and 25 May 2020. Here, the analysis period begins a few days before schools were closed in Japan and ends when the last administrative prefectures lifted the state of emergency. Local and foreign news were excluded from the AS data.

Collection Mode

Compilation/Synthesis

Research Instrument

Data collection guidelines: Secondary data collection guide

Data Files

442 html files (HS articles) and two pdf files (lists of publication information for the DN and AS articles). Another pdf file containing the publication and author information for the HS articles.

Data File Language

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

Qualitative data are available in their original language only and are not translated.

Data Version

1.0

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Kangas, Kaisa (University of Helsinki): News Articles about COVID-19 in Helsingin Sanomat, Asahi Shimbun and Dagens Nyheter 2020 [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2023-01-27). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3723; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3723

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Special Terms and Conditions for Access

Use of the data material is permitted in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Finnish Copyright Act and the copying licence granted by Kopiosto. The data material itself must not be published. Users of the data can quote the material in the manner allowed by the Finnish Copyright Act to the extent required for the purpose. The creator of the material and the source must be cited in published quotations in an appropriate manner.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Kangas, Kaisa (2022). "Auki vaiko kiinni? Kouluja koskeva koronakeskustelu Suomen, Ruotsin ja Japanin valtalehdissä". Yhteiskuntapolitiikka 4/2022. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022091459079