The research suggested that media play an important role in shaping public perception about health and risk by employing four frame functions: problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and treatment recommendation. This article provided contextual novelty by presenting the analysis of Indonesian newspaper coverage concerning health and risk communication. This article utilized the framing analysis method, literature review, and was guided by health and risk communication framework. In light of that, this article aims to describe how the media in Indonesia framed the novel coronavirus disease issue (COVID-19) before the pandemic. The media could build risk perception about global or local outbreaks. Nevertheless, not every pandemic represented was equal. Media can construct health risk information through narratives or stories they provide. At the end of 2019, the world was once again confronted with a health-threatening situation: the emergence of the novel coronavirus. The advent of health risk situation brings about several challenges to be addressed, e.g., risk preparedness and clear information to reduce uncertainties.
