From pandemic solidarity to industrial action hostility: british media representations of workers during Covid-19 and the 2022-23 strikes

Abstract

The study investigated and compared the British media's framing of workers during two months of the Covid-19 pandemic and two months of the 2022-23 strikes. A qualitative content analysis was conducted of 160 articles from The Guardian, The Independent, The Times and The Telegraph. The research revealed that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the media utilised three dominant frames regarding workers: a Precarity frame, a Solidarity frame and a Hero frame. During the 2022-23 strikes, a Villain frame, a Precarity frame and a Conflict frame dominated the media’s coverage of workers. Guided by theories of disaster capitalism and crisis, the research indicated that the support shown for workers during the Covid-19 pandemic turned into vilification as workers began going on strike and asking for pay increases.