The Masters Program in Postgraduate Governmental Sciences of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta conducted research on media framing during the COVID-19 pandemic that Indonesia is currently facing. The research team was led by the Vice-Chancellor for Cooperation and International Affairs of UMY, Prof. Dr. Achmad Nurmandi, M.Sc and assisted by the research team that consists of Eko Priyo Purnomo, S.IP., M.Sc., M.Res., Ph.D., Christine B. Tenorio, MPA., Abitassha Az Zahra, S.IP in observing online media that provide both positive and negative information, to build public trust in the government in overcoming COVID-19.

This study refers to media reports issued from January 2020 to March 2020. There is an increase in community activity in responding to online media coverage during this timeframe. In January, the framing of online news highlights that the government is only focusing on the basic information of COVID-19 in China. In February and March, online news highlighted issues related to policies taken by the government to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The results of the study show that the framing of online media news does not have a direct impact in shaping the positive perspectives of the public regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. In fact, it makes people’s perceptions different and will result in reduced public trust in the government,” said Nurmandi.