Paradigm Change in Portuguese Post-Pandemic Journalism? Not Quite …

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial changes in journalistic practices, including production routines, journalistic genres, the choice and degree of dependence on sources of information, and the density of health literacy promotion. In Portugal, a survey of journalists after the first severe lockdown revealed that they intended to influence citizens’ behavior towards prevention through their work. Three years after the pandemic ended, we asked ourselves what has remained the same and what has changed. To answer this question, we used the same analytical tool: a survey of journalists. Through this survey, we analyzed and discussed Portuguese journalists’ perceptions of the impact and implications of the pandemic on journalistic practices, especially production routines, topic selection, and information source selection. Based on the responses received, it is evident that few changes have been made. The most significant changes involve the selection of specialists and the attention given to literacy in the produced texts. The results indicate that a paradigm shift is far from occurring because even in items indicating an absorption of practices created during SARS-CoV-2, the frequency rate is low. This suggests that journalists have returned to working methods identical to those prior to the pandemic.