COVID-19 was pervasive in the media’s early coverage of the Biden administration

As the battle against the coronavirus outbreak was emerging as a defining issue in President Joe Biden’s young administration, the pandemic and its effects on society became a pervasive part of the media narrative about his first 60 days in office.

Indeed, nearly three-quarters of all news stories about the Biden administration’s early days in office (72%) mentioned COVID-19 in some way, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. It was a major part of the reporting – meaning at least half the story focused on it – in 42% of all...