Framing COVID-19 across contrasting media systems: a corpus-assisted analysis of BBC and Al Arabiya coverage on X, 2020–2022

Abstract

This study examines how two leading news organisations operating in contrasting political and media systems, the BBC in the United Kingdom and Al Arabiya in Saudi Arabia, framed COVID-19 in content distributed through their official X (formerly Twitter) accounts between January 2020 and February 2022. The comparison is motivated by systemic contrast rather than institutional equivalence: the BBC is a publicly funded broadcaster with editorial independence operating in a liberal-democratic media system, while Al Arabiya is a privately owned pan-Arab network operating within a state-influenced media environment. Drawing on framing theory and Hallin and Mancini's comparative media systems framework, the study combines qualitative framing analysis with corpus linguistic methods applied to a bilingual dataset: 11,451 English-language BBC articles (3,576,484 tokens) and 826 Arabic-language Al Arabiya articles (387,479 tokens, of which 310,174 are content words) linked from the two accounts. Eight frames were identified across both corpora. Qualitative frame analysis is complemented by two statistical tests: a chi-square test of the frame distribution between outlets, and log-likelihood keyness testing comparing the early pandemic phase (March–May 2020) with the vaccination phase (December 2020–February 2021) within each corpus. The frame distributions differ significantly between outlets [ χ 2 (7) = 364.4, p  < 0.0001], though with a modest effect size (Cramér's V = 0.162); standardised residuals show the association is driven by the Uncertainty, War, Authority-Centric and Human-Interest frames, while Government Handling and Economic Consequences do not differ significantly. Keyness results confirm a decisive and statistically robust narrative shift in both outlets, from an early vocabulary of outbreak, containment and protective equipment to a vaccination-dominated vocabulary. Culturally specific patterns are also evident: the Al Arabiya early-phase keywords foreground curfew, Ramadan and communal prayer, while its vaccination-phase keywords foreground the state health platform Sehaty. Frame distribution shows the BBC emphasising uncertainty and government criticism, and Al Arabiya emphasising commitment and transparency, collective mobilisation and state authority, with both outlets converging on authority-centred framing during the acute outbreak. The study contributes a bilingual, longitudinal account of how political structures, cultural values and institutional roles shape pandemic framing across divergent media systems.