This study examines newspaper coverage of hospitals during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands, focusing on how information from hospitals was presented to the public through newspaper articles. Using a mixed methods longitudinal design, the researchers compared internal hospital data from five hospitals in Limburg, a heavily affected region, with newspaper coverage. The internal data included crisis meeting documents and video communications, while the newspaper coverage was analyzed from the LexisNexis Academic database. Key findings include: - **Content Themes**: The internal data identified 12 themes, including COVID-19 capacity, regular care capacity, human resources, well-being, public support, material resources, innovation, policies and protocols, finance, preparedness, and ethics. - **Newspaper Focus**: Newpapers focused significantly more on COVID-19 capacity, regular care capacity, and public support, while less on material resources and policies and protocols. - **Time-Varying Attention**: Differences in attention to themes were observed between the first and second waves of the pandemic and at the end of the third wave. - **Article Types**: Newpapers published articles with three types: those including stakeholders as sources, those without, and diary articles written by hospital staff. - **Misinformation**: No evidence of misinformation was found in any of the newspaper articles. The study concludes that newspapers can be a credible source of information during health crises, providing valuable insights for both the public and health organizations. It also highlights the importance of understanding the gatekeeping roles of both media and health care organizations in shaping information distribution.This study examines newspaper coverage of hospitals during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands, focusing on how information from hospitals was presented to the public through newspaper articles. Using a mixed methods longitudinal design, the researchers compared internal hospital data from five hospitals in Limburg, a heavily affected region, with newspaper coverage. The internal data included crisis meeting documents and video communications, while the newspaper coverage was analyzed from the LexisNexis Academic database. Key findings include: - **Content Themes**: The internal data identified 12 themes, including COVID-19 capacity, regular care capacity, human resources, well-being, public support, material resources, innovation, policies and protocols, finance, preparedness, and ethics. - **Newspaper Focus**: Newpapers focused significantly more on COVID-19 capacity, regular care capacity, and public support, while less on material resources and policies and protocols. - **Time-Varying Attention**: Differences in attention to themes were observed between the first and second waves of the pandemic and at the end of the third wave. - **Article Types**: Newpapers published articles with three types: those including stakeholders as sources, those without, and diary articles written by hospital staff. - **Misinformation**: No evidence of misinformation was found in any of the newspaper articles. The study concludes that newspapers can be a credible source of information during health crises, providing valuable insights for both the public and health organizations. It also highlights the importance of understanding the gatekeeping roles of both media and health care organizations in shaping information distribution.