When Home is Not Safe: Media Coverage and Issue Salience of Child Maltreatment during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

While staying at home is crucial for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, there is concern that such public health measures may increase the risk for child maltreatment (CM). Using a qualitative content analysis of news coverage and a quantitative survey (N = 250) of media consumers, this study explored the framing of CM as an issue during COVID-19, as well as audience recall and perceived efficacy to prevent maltreatment. Findings from the content analysis indicate that domestic violence and CM are frequently discussed together, and that less frequent interaction with mandatory reporters during the pandemic was often cited as a problem. Survey results suggest that social media and public service announcements are more important compared to news media for increasing audience perceptions of salience and efficacy around CM during a pandemic. Implications for studying media coverage of intertwined public health issues, like a pandemic and CM, are discussed.

Keywords:

• Agenda setting
• child maltreatment
• COVID-19
• framing
• media coverage

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Christen Buckley for her assistance analyzing the news articles in this study.