Media narratives during the Covid-19 emergency in Slovenia

Slovenia was also in a state of emergency in the spring of 2020 due to Covid-19, like the rest of the world. The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in Slovenia coincided with a change of government in power. The right-wing government that took office in March 2020 showed strong tendencies towards authoritarian rule. Governmental measures to contain the virus were accompanied by substantial social unrest and resistance. With its measures to "protect" public health and ensure security, the government affected not only freedom of movement, but also freedom of assembly and thus freedom of speech and expression. Due to the central role that the media plays in society, media content and its narratives are valuable in researching the social climate or state, as narratives reveal a rich, detailed, and often personal perspective of the author. While narratives are part of the construction of the social, cultural, and political world (Hyvärien 2007), it is not only the stories that show us the image of a state of the situation but also the journalists have a partial influence on its construction, as they are the ones who subjectively choose what information to use and highlight in the context of the documented event. My analysis will examine the media as an important context for the dissemination of ideas about freedom of expression and opinion, democracy, and authoritarianism, which are then re-appropriated in social interaction. I will present the narratives of media analyzed using the approaches described by Teun A. van Dijk. I will exemplify how journalists framed narratives about the state of emergency during the Covid period, framed narration about the protests and activities, and what were the narration and discourse about freedom of expression and assembly.