Civilized Global North versus rebellious Global South: a socio-semiotic analysis of media visual discourse

1 Introduction

With its global coverage and huge impact on the world, COVID-19 has accumulated massive attention and has gripped the psychological state of the public (Martikainen and Sakki 2021a; Sirkeci and Cohen 2020). The origin of the virus, and its effect on health, economy, and psychological and social well-being are a few of the factors that have been studied in the last few years to measure the virus and its catastrophic nature (Abas et al. 2022; Allington et al. 2021; Nabity-Grover et al. 2020; Pennycook et al. 2020; Safdar and Yasmin 2020; Yasmin 2022). Different countries have reacted differently, based on their political, social, and economic status, yet one of the glaring inequalities which has further intensified the misery and has been less articulated is the othering of others, based on their social status, citizenship, region, and race (Bala and Lumayag 2021). This paper attempts to unfold the hidden ideology of being inferior to the West (Orient) in the context of Pakistani newspapers, which was once a colonized state. It argues that, despite the two divisions of the world (Global South and Global North), the Earth experiences the same catastrophe of the pandemic, people of colonized states could not stop themselves from portraying the West as superior in handling the catastrophe, thus giving the reigns of their narratives to other developed countries and consequently bearing the sole responsibility of being the peril on Earth. Marginalized groups have always been blamed for diseases (Chamberlain 2020). Pandemics are associated with Chinese and East Asians in particular (Wang et al. 2021; Yeh 2020). Multiple studies have been conducted to reveal how the Global South has been labeled as a threat to global public health (Banerjee et al. 2020; Sparke and Williams 2022). All of these studies reveal that the Global South has marginalized itself mainly due to its own negative representation in media, which generates a negative narrative that showcases them as barbarians, rustic, uncivilized, and unhygienic, resulting in the strengthening of the orientalist discourse. To date, no studies have been carried out on how newspapers have reported the pandemic through real-life images, especially how a colonial state presents itself in comparison to the West (Global South). Visuals are one of the significant ways of tracing hidden ideologies (Moliner 2020). This study investigates how newspapers portray the novel coronavirus through their pictorial/visual reports. People form their ideologies and perceptions based on the type of information reported by newspapers (Martikainen and Sakki 2021a). This study’s argument is based on the two broadly divided economic worlds: the Global North and the Global South. The economically developed societies of Europe, North America, Australia, Israel, and South Africa are represented by the Global North, the Global South is represented by a variety of other countries, which are the economically underdeveloped nations of Africa, India, China, Brazil, and Mexico. The countries of the Global North are developed economically, technologically, and politically, while in the Global South, the opposite is true (Trefzer et al. 2014). The division of Global South and Global North is not geographical; rather it is philosophical, because it reflects social, political, and intellectual disparities (Odeh 2010; Png 2022).

2 Theoretical framework

It is difficult to conceptualize and tangibly express the concepts of nationality and identity in colonized discourse. There are complexities and enigmas surrounding the challenge of imagining how a colonized country can reclaim or reconstruct its identity in discourse when the genres, tools, and identities are allocated by the colonizers (Bhabha 2003; Fanon 1961; Said 2003). In alignment with these authors, Akhtar (2022) enhances this belief by calling it “fear and desire” on Gramsci’s (2000) notion of hegemony – that anyone who tries to break the set hegemony is portrayed as an “other.” Marginalized groups are defined as others and are described as “those who, to varying degrees, exist politically, socially, or economically ‘outside’ of dominant norms and institutions” (Cohen 1999). People of marginalized nations are further disadvantaged due to global power dynamics, poor healthcare systems, internal riots, and low knowledge production (Guma 2022; Iqtadar et al. 2021). There is always some other who symbolizes one’s fear. Manichean allegory sees the world as divided into mutually excluding opposites: if the West is ordered, rational, masculine, and good, then the Orient is chaotic, irrational, feminine, and evil (Janmohamed 1985). Henceforth, meanings are not constructed solely through words, but they carry a long heritage of experiences, and in every community, linguistic signs along with visuals contribute to constructing meanings (Kress and van Leeuwen 2021). Visuals don’t only depict social events; rather they are the embodiment of complete culture and carry the entire history (Sarma 2022). This is why visual grammar is used as a tool to interpret the hidden meanings and ideologies behind COVID-19 visuals. Visual analysis is a framework developed by Kress and van Leeuwen (2021), which is based on semiotic principles, and categorizes meanings as representational, interactive, and compositional. A narrative process is indicated by the existence of a vector, which may be produced by any action of the portrayed participant or by any kind of prominence. These processes may be transactional, including both an actor and a goal, or non-transactional, involving simply an actor. To discover meanings from the images, the representational meaning works to extract ideologies and buried meaning by examining participants and social actors depicted in any photograph.

At an interactional level, the gaze of participants in a picture contributes to the establishment of relationships with the reader. Additionally, the size of the picture and social distance serves as important tool; a close-up portrait is more intimate than a long view of the subject. Moreover, a high camera angle may make the subject seem unimportant and little, while a low camera angle might have the opposite effect.

The compositional aspect is concerned with the numerous variables that contribute to an image’s reliability: color saturation, color distinction, context, representation, lighting, and brightness. The image can be evaluated by examining the information value (where subjects are placed in an image – top, bottom, left, and right), salience (the degree to which a subject attracts attention due to factors such as color, size, placement, and so on), and framing (how an image connects or disconnects the participants). Based on the theory discussed above, images of newspapers related to COVID-19 are analyzed to discuss how different sections of societies are constructed and perceived.

3 Literature review

COVID-19 surfaced as the new deadly foe (Páez and Pérez 2020). And it has been treated as a by-product of the process of othering, as witnessed during earlier pandemics such as SARS (Washer 2004), mad cow disease (Washer 2006), Ebola (Joffe and Haarhoff 2002), HIV/AIDS (Jaspal and Nerlich 2016; Joffe and Bettega 2003), Zika (Ribeiro et al. 2018), and the H1N1 epidemic (Wagner-Egger et al. 2011). Páez and Pérez (2020) used social representation theory in the context of previously occurring pandemics, and found that COVID-19 followed societal stratification and unlatched both the label and responsibility of the virus on its victims politically. Though this bigotry and denouncement had no geographical boundaries, there are reports of a broad range of people who experienced discrimination and feared stigmatization during the COVID-19, including Muslims in India, Africans in China, and Ivorians in Tunisia (Dionne and Turkmen 2020). They reviewed the existing literature on pandemics in the context of the Global South, specifically targeting developing countries, and concluded that these people have been globally politicized for centuries. The current study interlaces Pakistan’s visual representation of the pandemic relative to the West with the doctrine of others and us. The media tends to blame third-world countries’ flaws as the catastrophe’s culprit (Wagner-Egger et al. 2011). Visuals shape an individual’s mind. In many cases, COVID-19’s glorification through visuals was aimed at spreading chaos, disparity, stratification, and making heroes forcefully (Giaimo 2020). Scrutinizing these pictures through the application of visual grammar has revealed how illustrations are sometimes used to unify people by injecting a sense of solidarity (Ahmad Al-Ghamdi and Albawardi 2020). But in most cases, newspaper images elevate anxiety and make people vulnerable during the pandemic (Jacob 2020). Jacob (2020) analyzed the information through the content analysis technique qualitatively. COVID-19’s connection with extremism and negative emotions has segregated and belittled expatriates and minorities (Wen et al. 2020). Reading and further scrutiny into how group identity was treated during the pandemic will unearth many details because pandemics have been used as a tool to exploit group identities (Bieber 2022; Jetten et al. 2020). Bieber (2022) used nationalism as a conceptual framework and explained that the pandemic has given rise to nationalist nationalism and not global nationalism, which questions the existence of minorities that are already relegated to the periphery. Expatriates were portrayed in a negative light. This became apparent in the Finnish newspapers that were analyzed through social representation theory, in which Swedes were portrayed negatively during the pandemic. Historically, seeds of this negativity have been sown in the name of national antagonism and rivalry, which strengthens the group boundaries between us and them (Martikainen and Sakki 2021b). It can be a lethal weapon to charge people emotionally in the name of patriotism. The wrong use of photojournalism is evident in the studies and would be proven lethal in the future (Jetten et al. 2020; Van Assche et al. 2020).

In previous literature, researchers have analyzed and reviewed research conducted on COVID-19 visuals, but none of the research has been carried out in detail by categorizing pictures under different themes of real-life COVID-19 reporting events that can be studied in understanding the embedded ideologies and identities. Secondly, this study will use the visual representation of Pakistani newspapers in a comparison between Global South and Global North during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a big gap in the research literature of the two different communities, which belong to two different divisions of the world and are two distinct communities in all aspects of social, cultural, and political perspectives, and which are portrayed during a pandemic in terms of their suffering and reactions. The article explores how diverse groups of people are represented and positioned with respect COVID-19. This study also explores the role of media in knowledge construction.

The following research question will be addressed in the present study:

1. How have Pakistani newspapers visually portray the Global North during the first wave of COVID-19?

2. How have Pakistani newspapers visually represented the Global South during the first wave of COVID-19?

3. What different semiotic ideologies of the Global North and South are constructed in Pakistani newspapers?

4 Methodology

Keeping in mind the nature of the research, an interpretative paradigm was followed for the analysis, while purposive sampling technique was used for the collection and scrutinizing of the data in the study. The foundation of interpretivism is the idea that reality is inherently subjective, complex, and influenced by societal conceptions. In essence, we are only able to understand a person’s reality through their own experiences, which may be different from others’ due to their varied historical and social perspectives (Stavraki 2014; Wilson 1970). The purposive sampling technique was considered appropriate for the identification and selection of information-rich cases related to the phenomenon of interest (Palinkas et al. 2015; Sibona et al. 2020). Two Pakistani newspapers (Dawn and The Nation) were chosen to collect the visual data related to the coronavirus during the first wave. Dawn and The Nation were selected because of their large circulation in the Pakistani community (Rasheed 2017). Despite Urdu newspapers having a larger circulation, English newspapers were chosen due to their global reach and greater influence in disseminating awareness and ideas across nations. The front pages of the first three months of newspapers were selected for visual analysis, related to coronavirus reporting, after the virus’ first case was found in Pakistan on February 28, 2020. It is believed that the front pages of the newspapers get the maximum attention of the readers and are loaded with the most significant information (Tejedor et al. 2020; Utt and Pasternack 1984). So, first, it was decided to choose all of the visuals from the front pages that reported on the coronavirus. It was found that various images portrayed the plight of health workers, patients/victims, political leaders, and the general public during the pandemic, at national and international levels. There was a collection of 97 visuals from the given months. The data led to the construction of various themes, which emerged while examining the data. So, the qualitative data analysis started from this stage, and during a thorough and careful investigation, the first distinction was made: Pakistan versus other countries, which was later turned into Global South versus Global North after further analysis. While analyzing, a sharp contrast was observed between developed and underdeveloped counties under the division of Global South and Global North, which was further narrowed down to the colonized states’ representation of themselves and the Global North. Therefore, it was decided to collect pictures related to this angle: how Pakistani newspapers have represented the Global South and Global North on their front pages of newspapers. This decision clipped the data from 97 to 23 visuals, depicting Global South and Global North. It does not follow any pre-determined method, rather the steps were systematically formulated. During the process of selecting visuals, multiple themes emerged that were worth analyzing, and 12 images were shortlisted through purposive sampling that matched the themes of the current comparative study, and they are discussed in detail in the analysis section. It is pertinent to mention here that, while carefully selecting the pictures, a few questions were repeatedly asked to validate the selection process. For example, (1) Who is in the photograph? (2) How much information is present, related to my research objectives? (3) Does it give a unique perspective and add value to the existing literature through comparative analysis? As stated earlier, visuals proved to be more impactful and concrete in shaping the readers’ ideologies, serving as tangible evidence for various events (Moliner 2020). Therefore, this paper will study the hidden ideologies through the lens of grammar of visual design by Kress and van Leeuwen (2021). Six major themes developed during the analysis, and under each theme, the pictures were purposively selected to best fit the analysis. The rest of the pictures, which could not generate a comparison, were discarded. The current paper analyzed the 12 visuals (photographs), two for each theme through convenient purposive sampling.

5 Findings and discussion

Various themes emerged regarding how different people, ideologies, and sects are framed and how the general public is captured. In Pakistani newspapers, there was a strikingly different representation of COVID-19 in developed and underdeveloped countries. The West is shown silent while the East has crowds protesting against restrictions.

5.1 Silent towns

In Pakistani newspapers, the West has been portrayed as empty of humans, which instills a fear of death and magnifies the flimsy existence of human beings. Figures 1 and 2 demonstrate the above-mentioned theme of alienation.

Figure 1:

March 15, 2020, The Nation.

Figure 2:

April 2, 2020, The Nation.

The picture depicts New York City, which appears to be deserted due to the coronavirus. There are empty buildings and only a few lurking shadows. The pictures on buildings give the impression of the Joker doing tricks to attract the audience, but all in vain. The picture has been taken to disassociate viewers from New York, probably due to their culture or strict norms. The cameraman wants viewers to observe life in New York during the pandemic. The picture grooms the idea that human ambition will die and the world will lose its charm with its deadness. The image is taken from a low angle to show the grandeur of buildings, with humans appearing insignificant, but both need each other for survival.

The second picture intensifies the feeling of lonely cities. It depicts the helplessness of human beings in an ironic way whose greatness can be seen as limited to man-made statues. The picture represents the flag of Italy flowing at half-mast in memory of deceased COVID-19 patients. The picture is void of any action, with only the flag, which is the symbol of national power, drooping to represent the acceptance of human defeat at the hands of the COVID-19. The half-mast flag represents loss and helplessness in front of cemented victory in the form of statues. The national flag is captured in the center because it is a symbol of unity and strength, so it represents hope that things will be normal again. The Victor Emmanuel II National Monument is the symbolic representation of brave soldiers who died for the nation, so it gives a message that Italy will not forget the deceased. The picture is taken from a low angle to disassociate viewers from the warriors as they are on a higher pedestal position.

5.2 Noisy cities

In 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, the deadly virus wreaked havoc on developing countries and created a wave of fear and terror in their inhabitants, as discussed earlier in Figures 1 and 2. The virus also started gaining ground in other countries in the Global South during the same period, but the public at large threw the government caution to the wind and remained busy in their daily activities, thinking themselves immune to the coronavirus (see Figures 3 and 4).

Figure 3:

April 15, 2020, Dawn. Lahore: brushing aside all concerns regarding the spread of the new coronavirus.

Figure 4:

May 15, 2020, The Nation.

Many people did not believe in the existence of COVID-19, which is manifested in Figure 3. The scene narrates an episode at the fruits and vegetable market, where customers and buyers can be seen. It seems as if the buyers have shut the shops due to fear of management but could not stop buying. It can be noticed that the majority of the mass is male, and they are wearing shalwar kameez, which is not the attire of the upper class. No one is afraid of contracting COVID-19 because they do not maintain social distance, nor they are wearing masks. It gives the feeling that COVID-19 does not even exist for them. The picture is taken from the top. None of the actors is making eye contact with the viewer. They are shown as busy in their correspondence, and indifferent to others. The picture, in general, portrays a bluish color impact, which makes it more manly and masculine in its nature, to intensify the nature of the public. The participants are shown carefree. For them, economic and financial sustainability is more important than being caught by the lethal virus. The centralized item is a basket, which is empty, replicating their empty pockets. The photographer has tried to show them as inferior, as they are violating the rules of the government. They have been shown as the recipients and the spreaders of coronavirus in society. Moreover, the picture is taken from a distance to create an effect that neither the viewer nor the participants in any way want to develop a close relationship with each other. It creates a gap between the classes of society.

The newspapers’ visuals suggest a very uncooperative attitude among Pakistanis towards curbing the spread of the virus. The selected picture showcases the early stages of COVID-19 and the general public’s behavior. The image is of a crowded market, where people are seen busy discussing the prices of different fruits and vegetables. The backs of the buyers are shown, and the faces of the sellers are visible. The picture is taken from the oblique angle and does not foreground the participants, as the seemingly active participants are not shown from the front. Some people are shown walking around the market, but the way the picture is taken, the focus goes toward the two ladies standing in abayas and shows them as passive. The picture is taken from a medium-long distance covering a long range of view, showing some people in full appearance and the rest in a close range from the waist up. This shows that the viewer/reader is not in a close relationship in the picture with anyone. So, the buyers request nothing from the onlookers/readers by keeping in touch; rather they are occupied with their discussion, and they don’t need close closeness and open relationship with the viewers. Further, the shot is taken from the above, intensifying that the people in the frame are minorities and have no power.

5.3 Stress-free life

Pakistani newspapers showcased advanced countries as stress-free and relaxed in their homes, stores, streets, and parks, unlike people of poor communities, who rebelled against staying inside and marched against lockdown (see Figures 11 and 12). Figures 5 and 6 are a testament to their lifestyle during the global pandemic.

Figure 5:

May 21, 2020, The Nation.

Figure 6:

June 3, 2020, Dawn.

Figure 5 shows the lifestyle of Western people during the first wave of the pandemic. It can be seen clearly that the participants in the picture are maintaining social distance and observing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for COVID-19. The participants are entertaining themselves in the sunlight. One is drinking a cup of coffee, the female is sitting leisurely, and in the background, people can be seen in a relaxed mood. The picture is taken from a long distance. The long-distance angle explains the participants unwillingness to be frank and intimate with viewers. Moreover, they are not making eye contact, because they want to be observed how one should behave in a critical hour. Further, the picture also sends the message that the existence of the world is possible, due to the presence of human beings. That is why they are positioned in the center to signify the importance of healthy human life.

Figure 6 shows two women talking to each other amid the hype of COVID-19 in a square. They have maintained social distance while sanitizing their hands and have also worn masks. The background is also not shown as crowded. The picture is bi-directional, as both females are talking to each other. They don’t seem worried about their body language. It gives the impression that they halted for a moment and are having a casual chat. These two women symbolize women, and in general, the general public of Western society, who are carefree about the worries of jobs and finances. The picture is taken from a long distance to give a message to stay away. Secondly, it is taken from a lower angle, because the majority of the people could not enjoy the leisurely and carefree life as is shown in the newspapers. They are shown as superior and different from developing countries.

5.4 Miserable and stressed

COVID-19 was unlike any other disaster the world has encountered in recent decades in terms of its potential economic and social impacts, but it seems that COVID-19 hit the poor hardest. According to the visual data, it seems that despite the already struggling poor, the new poor has emerged belonging to a middle-income class that has been significantly affected.

The collected data leads to the conclusion that the poverty and distributional impacts of COVID-19 brought dire consequences. For instance, Figure 7 shows some precautionary measures taken by the people. The shadows of people standing show that it is summer. There is no shade to protect people from the scorching heat of the sun. They are helpless and have no other way to get food, except to wait in their positioned areas. There are around thirty actors with a common goal, and are shown helpless and defeated, being controlled by a virus. They are not beggars but the victims of the virus’ effects.

Figure 7:

March 27, 2020, Dawn. People stand in designated areas marked on the ground to maintain social distancing as they receive free food.

The picture has been taken from a safe long distance, while each actor can be seen clearly. This means that it’s impersonal and doesn’t depict a close affinity among the members. The picture conveys that the members don’t want to maintain a relationship with the viewers as there is no eye contact with viewers. The media has shown Pakistan as helpless and weak. The picture is taken from a higher level, which illustrates viewers as superior to the actors. None of the colors is made prominent. The actors are centralized while every other thing is marginalized to show their significance and helplessness.

COVID-19 has immensely increased the amount of unemployment, poverty, and inequality. Figure 8 explains this. The male figure was sitting in his trolley, which he used for loading goods in Bhatti Chowk. There has been no work for him and others like him for the last week due to the lockdown. At the surface level, this picture shares the message of poverty and hunger, as his face is stressed and shares how COVID-19 has disturbed the livelihood of working class people. From the conceptual point of view, the picture represents a poor class whose work has been stopped, and the sadness in his eyes shows how COVID-19 has destroyed his means of earning. It is clear from the man’s gaze that he is demanding. He wants the viewers to see how miserable his situation is during COVID-19; the man wants to develop a close affinity with the viewer. The shot is taken from the same level, which reinforces that the man and the viewer are equal. The man is passive yet interactive.

Figure 8:

May 17, 2020, Dawn.

This picture has shown us the reality for working class society and the lockdown’s impacts. The frozen gaze of the man shows that he is not avoiding looking into the camera, which means that he wants the government and the people to look at him/them (the poor); how the poor are struggling, suffering, and starving because of the pandemic. It shows that poor people don’t care about COVID-19; they just want to earn because it’s difficult for them to make ends meet.

5.5 Civilized people

Pakistani news reporters did not refrain from portraying poor countries as rustic and rude, by showcasing the West as controlled, disciplined, and civilized nations. This creates a feeling of agitation among the residents of third world countries, as their behavior is framed as quite unnatural and acceptable, in a natural catastrophe, and opposite to a general belief. Such national stereotype discourses construct negative discourses for nations. Figures 9 and 10 highlight the above theme, in which media has triggered deep-seated stereotypes.

Figure 9:

March 30, 2020, Dawn. New York: a man wears a face mask while he visits Times Square during rain on Saturday (source: Agence French-Presse).

Figure 10:

April 28, 2020, The Nation.

The picture again represents the story of every common person in Western society, who is observing the SOPs of COVID-19 to curb the spread of the virus. The background is shown empty, and the man is foregrounded, fully covered with all precautions, though we don’t see a rush around him. It signifies the concept of a responsible citizen, who is aware of his responsibilities even when he is alone. The shops and markets are closed. It is a uni-directional picture, as he is alone and not communicating with anyone, yet he is making a comfortable pose for his viewers while making eye contact with a medium shot. He is shown in the center, to convey that the world is alive if one is observing all the precautions and people have to survive for it, otherwise, the world will come to an end, as it is shown in the background, through the closure of markets. The man is making eye contact to demand that his viewers develop an equal feeling of sympathy for each other, as COVID-19 has overridden the classification of human beings. It seems that he wants to develop a relationship with the administration to follow the advice of the government.

In continuation of the theme of civilized people, this picture represents human life during the pandemic in the United States. Everyone is busy with their own lives. The street shown in the picture seems like a street from the market in New York City but with fewer people. It also shows the obedience of the nation to the West and their sensitivity to save their people from dying in large numbers from this virus. This picture is showing us the image of the superpower country’s nation and its prejudice. It explains how much influence the government has over common people and that their lives can be put at risk. Despite the medical sector proving that cloth masks are not as effective against COVID-19 as the surgical or N95 masks, the people in the picture prefer to listen to their President. Their distance from the viewers shows that they are not in close interaction with the viewers but are allowing them to see their lives from a distance. Two types of eye contact can be witnessed. One with a “demanding gaze,” preaching Trump’s ideology, while others with an “offer gaze” to show how the government is forcing them to take unconventional measures during a global crisis and how this might be life-threatening for them and others around them.

5.6 Rebellious and protestors

Given the choice of fight or flight, the poor are left with no choice but to fight and resist against strict lockdown, as it has put their business and jobs at risk. Figures 11 and 12 are the symbolic representation of the communities who are unwilling to accept the lockdown.

Figure 11:

May 4, 2020, Dawn.

Figure 12:

May 5, 2020, Dawn.

The photo of a lab, showing youngsters violating social distancing, has been taken from a high angle, showing these violators as rebellious and culprits. Their act of transgression has been discouraged by the authorities, as they could be dangerous for other vulnerable and weak people in society. It gives the impression that people are ignorant and insensitive towards others and are reactive towards government policies, and the government is taking care of their weaker section. Viewers see themselves as superior to them and discourage their act of moving around ruthlessly. The picture shows an aerial view of the room to show the number of people, to reveal how many people are unbridled and creating a life risk for others. They are not making intimate contact with the photographer. It means that they are oblivious to their public image, or the photographer does not want them to be closely intimate with viewers to explicate the fact that their act was wrong and they need to be discriminated against. Just to show them inferior, the photographer has taken the photo from a long distance, so that the viewers may not feel intimacy.

The picture narrates a situation where police are catching young workers who protested to get back to their duties. Hundreds of people plunged deep into the dark abyss of homelessness and unemployment due to COVID-19, and the government schemes were deficient to meet their needs. The picture narrates two types of people: those who are controlling the previously uncontrolled ones, and the others who are under control now due to the execution of law and order. From a representational point of view, the police are arresting the delinquent lawbreakers, so the police are actors, and the culprits are the goals. Police are shown with gloves and masks, while the young disruptors are shown without masks and gloves, consequently causing a threat to others. The protestors’ faces are shown crying with pain and shouting against arrest. It suggests that if they don’t die of corona, they will die of hunger. The picture is taken from an oblique frontal angle, which justifies that the photographer does not want to be a part of that entire process, yet it is difficult to detach himself from the circumstances. It explains that the readers can relate to and understand the psychological and economic phases that the workers are going through. Second, the picture is taken from a medium distance, so neither the actors nor the viewers want to establish a close and intimate relationship. They want to be at a distance to preach a lesson of not taking laws in one’s own hands. Moreover, none of the people in the picture are making eye contact, which symbolizes that they also don’t want themselves to relate to the viewers to get sympathy.

6 Discussion

The newspapers present an understanding of a phenomenon by presenting it as a reality in a particular way that readers believe it is a true and real depiction of an event (Elcheroth et al. 2011). Wagner et al. (2002) state that the role of newspapers is significant in constituting the identities of societies, particularly for novel and threatening issues that cannot be experienced directly. Visual imagery works as visual evidence to sensitize public emotions by providing tangible and emotionally evocative reports. Following Smith and Joffe’s (2013) research on visualizations of global warming, it’s safe to claim that photos leave a seminal impact on public ideology.

The visual reports of COVID-19 allowed the researchers to examine both forms and functions of the selected data. This type of analysis verifies that visuals are crucial in shaping social and political beliefs (Batel and Castro 2018; Buhagiar and Sammut 2020). These images construct a particular stance regarding different nations and global divisions to project actors in conventional attire and thus contribute to strengthening the stereotypical meaning. So, when similar types of images are repeated in the media, they shape and may eventually normalize the perception and stereotypical ideologies and strengthen the conceived notions. So, newspaper images may not only disseminate social representations of different social divisions but also naturalize them (Moscovici 2008). Analysis of news images contributes to the study of social representations by revealing the hidden doctrines and the social image they establish and maintain (Martikainen 2019; Zelizer 1995). This is particularly significant for news photography, as these images are frequently viewed as representations of reality and objective evidence of news (Banks 2012).

This study asserts how power is woven into the representational process. The findings reveal that the Global North is portrayed as obedient, abiding by all rules, carefree, and replete with a satisfied lifestyle, sensible enough to behave in a civilized manner, and consequently, less fearful of spreading the virus. In turn, the Global South is sometimes portrayed as reckless, noisy, and shameless. The way they are portrayed implies that they are negligent, unconcerned about the virus themselves, but potentially serving as a vector for transmitting the virus to others. This characterization reinforces the view of them as shameless and rustic, as traditionally conceived. The latter portrayed them as a potential threat to the community’s health, while the West is portrayed as wardens that were responsible for maintaining society. The current study echoes the results of previous studies. Various studies confirm that pandemics have been politicized, and many attempts have been made to justify other nations (racist/minorities) and people (foreigners/migrants/refugees) as the originators and propagators of diseases (Jaspal and Nerlich 2016; Páez and Pérez 2020; Wagner et al. 2002; Wagner-Egger et al. 2011). The common finding in these studies was othering the foreigners as the major cause of anxiety about spreading the disease; but here in this study, it was found that Pakistani newspapers have projected the Global South itself as rebellious, callous, rule-breakers, who are insensitive to others’ life, hence, portraying them as less civilized. It contributes to a feeling that once-colonized countries have an inferiority complex, are still living in the periphery world of less-than-humans, and celebrate the center (West) as superior and better than them. So, the Global South unconsciously presents itself as a villain, and consequently barbarous in nature. This is why they are experiencing a colonial hangover, for which the media must take a conscious role to elevate their feelings of self-victimization as free and not in comparison with others. As Fanon (1961) said, “Imperialism has left behind germs of rot that must not be clinically detected and removed from our land, but from our minds as well.” It further shows how colonized third-world countries are still under the influence of imperialism and cannot question their identity and ideology, which was once created by their rulers. This all paves the way for Joffe’s (1999) perception that if irresponsible and innocently victimized people are not educated, they will continue to be stigmatized and held accountable for the spread of the virus. This intensifies previous studies that argued that pandemics have been politically used to undermine weaker and marginalized sections (Jetten et al. 2020; Templeton et al. 2020; Van Assche et al. 2020). This leads to creating a strong sense of frustration and aggression among Pakistanis, but this is not true, as Saladino et al. (2020) argue that COVID-19 has negatively impacted the psychological and social health of people, which has created stress and anxiety among people, because of prolonged exposure to disease. Similarly, Walmsley et al. (2020) found that due to mandatory closures and partial openings, the US GDP lost 3.2 to 4.8 trillion dollars in the first phase of the pandemic. This contradicts what Pakistani newspapers have portrayed in the Global North. A Pakistani reader develops an impression of them as a community living in peace, with no psychological, social, or economic stress, while the poor (once-colonized) people are going through an unbearable crisis that has made them noisy, loud, and villainous. It further echoes the conclusions of others (e.g., Joffe 1999; Joffe and Haarhoff 2002; Ribeiro et al. 2018; Washer 2006) that all kinds of evils are stigmatized by marginalized communities, and they are made culprits and victims of those evils, due to their naive and ignorant behavior. COVID-19 pictures are used politically to dismantle the internal harmony of the nation as the images leave a long-lasting effect on readers to construct an ideology of various groups.

7 Conclusions

This article sought to examine social representations of national identities associated with COVID-19 in the newspapers during the first three months of the pandemic. This is the first-ever research conducted on the visuals of news reports of the pandemic for comparative analysis. In this study, the researchers’ emphasis is on images and their functions. This offers a novel perspective on the topic and advances research on social representations of nations, during pandemics or natural disasters in general. However, the research has some limitations. Primarily, it focuses exclusively on media portrayals of COVID-19 related to the general public of two global divisions by a developing country’s newspaper. Secondly, the data were collected solely from the two mainstream Pakistani English newspapers, without any other comparative analysis of media representations in other nations. The visual analysis shows how the economic division between poor and rich has led the way to discriminating between the social behaviors of the residents of the two divisions through the semiotic lens of the reporters. Pakistan and her other allies, once a colonized state, have never been able to shed the influence of Europe as more intellectual and civilized. The Global South as a community has been shown as violent, reckless, poor, and distressed, while others (Europeans/developed nations) are shown as highly civilized, self-sufficient, and observing the precautions to curb the virus. It is suggested that pandemics should not be politicized. Instead, we should work together to safeguard our lives and coexist peacefully. It is further recommended that the entire world must work together for peace, security, and safety. Pandemics have little regard for national borders. Such diseases make no distinction between poor, wealthy, black, and white. The media must take ownership of biased reporting so that nations may not be disintegrated and made vulnerable during crises and tough hours that require solidarity.

In conclusion, the visual representation of such stereotypes feeds false information, promotes negative prejudices, and has the potential to deteriorate cross-cultural connections. The media must be held accountable for providing accurate and impartial news while avoiding narratives that could undermine international unity and thwart crisis solutions. During challenging times, the media can help to create a more unified and inclusive world by presenting realistic and sympathetic depictions. It is proposed that there is a dire need for media education, which can help elevate a nation’s integrity instead of fossilizing existing clichés. Newspapers should generate healthy discourse and empower individuals so that they deconstruct biased representations; otherwise, individuals may internalize the projections of themselves and others as true, which may impact their self-perception, raise political tensions, and widen cultural polarization. Moreover, the study has been limited to front pages’ visuals only, and could be advance by increasing the dataset, encompassing various ideological perspectives, and providing a deeper understanding.