This annual report analyzed a large number of online media and social media data – including around 2.5 million articles published from more than 400 media outlets – and showcased the impact of Covid19 on the media and social media landscape in N. Macedonia. Furthermore, the research study elucidated the most popular Covid19 sub-topics and their media coverage trends. In the report, we illustrated the clear distinction in terms of total number of published articles and engagements between the top four topics (Ministry/Public Health, Covid19 Patients, Curfew/Quarantine, Protective Measures) and the bottom four (Vaccines, Online Education, Covid19 Testing and Business Support). Specifically, the report showed that Curfew Measures sub-topic ”exploded” during the early stage of the Covid19 pandemic, while the Vaccine sub-topic became increasingly popular as the year drew to a close.

The report looked into the daily trends of new Covid19 cases vis-à-vis daily coverage of Covid19-related content. This comparison showed great disparities, especially in the early phase of 2020, when the low number of new cases was accompanied by extremely high media coverage as well as high engagement rates related to Covid19 topic. In addition, the research study shed light on the “saturation effect”, which became increasingly visible during the fall when the increase of new Covid19 cases and published articles on Covid19 topic was not followed by respective growth in the consumers’ engagement with the content.