Local news and COVID-19 in North Carolina (page 14)

Codebook

Topic	Description
ECON	Economy/business. Article is primarily about the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts on individuals (due to unemployment, reduced hours, illness, etc.), businesses, business operations, or communities.
EDU	Schools/education. Article is primarily about the pandemic’s impact on or changes to educational institutions and schooling, including daycare, preschool, K-12 and college. (Note: School-related restrictions and closures that do not have to do with education, i.e. those that are primarily event-related, will be coded as RESTRICT).
RESTRICT	Pandemic restrictions. Article is primarily about restrictions related to the pandemic, such as bans on indoor dining, gym closures, event cancellations, reduced hours and limits on the size of gatherings. This code also includes canceled events that could relate to other categories, such as canceled non-educational school events (i.e., a high school sports event) and canceled political conventions.
NUMBERS	Cases/death count. Article is primarily about the pandemic’s spread and toll, including the numbers of cases and deaths.
POL	Politics. Article is about the political impact of the pandemic, including its effect on political races and reactions from local politicians (Note: This does not include event-related restrictions and cancellations of political events, which are coded as RESTRICT).
MASK	Masks. Article is primarily about masks (including explanatory information such as their efficacy, where to acquire them and how to wear them) and mask mandates.
HUMAN	Human-interest story. An article that focuses on a single person or small group of people and the impacts that the pandemic has had on them. This includes news obits.
MEDIC	Medical response. Article is primarily about the medical responses to covid, including treatments for covid, the status and responses of local hospitals, and the status, requirements and details of local vaccine deployment.
GOV	Government response. Article is primarily about the steps local, state and federal governments are taking to address the pandemic or effects on government services.
HELP	Efforts to help. Article is primarily about efforts by nongovernmental entities such as nonprofits, donors or for-profit companies to help those affected by the virus.

Framing	Description
DISPUTE	Political dispute, partisan fight or controversy. Article is primarily framed through a lens of disagreement, controversy, or political fighting.
ECONHARM	Economic harm. The article is primarily framed through the lens of damage to the economy, businesses, government or personal finances.
RISK	Risk/danger. The article is primarily framed through the lens of the dangers of contracting COVID-19, the negative effects of and harm caused by the disease to individuals, the risk of wider spread, possible serious health effects or other negative scenarios, such as societal harm.
HOPE	Hopeful/positive. The article is primarily framed around themes of hope, resilience, positive developments, good news or people helping others.
EXPLAIN	Explanatory/providing information. The article is primarily presented as providing utilitarian information that the reader can use, debunking rumors or falsehoods, or analyzing pandemic-related news stories. Examples of this could include a Q&A with a healthcare professional, a schedule of vaccine rollout and requirements, or an explanation of the reasoning behind a recent government decision.
PERSONAL	The article is primarily framed around the impact the pandemic has on people and their experience. Note that this code will not always go with the “Human” topic code, because a “Human” topic could be framed “hopefully” and thus use the “hope” framing code.