Traitement médiatique des morts de la Covid-19 : entre avalanche de chiffres et récits de vie

We investigated how the Covid-19 deaths were described by the French media during the first lockdown. We studied the daily press conferences held by the Director-General for Health and the ‘remarkable’ deaths in the print media, as well as the weekly data from Santé Publique France. These data pointed out the high mean age of victims, as well as the prevalence of comorbidities among them, but these two aspects were partially absent in the two other media contents. Figures have been used to describe a massive and deadly pandemic, sparing no one, including the youth, but also to promote and justify the action of authorities, and to enroll the public in the war against the virus. In the print media, the choice of ‘remarkable’ deaths and the corresponding life stories contributed to a very similar narrative. Usually, figures are supposed to enlighten us, to provide food for thought and debate. But during the press conferences the selective flood of figures was rather frightening and contributed to impose a specific reading of the situation, and the absolute necessity of lockd