aspg-25-1993-1791493377 20261008210257 American Scientific Publishing Group admin@americaspg.com American Scientific Publishing Group Journal of Cognitive Human-Computer Interaction JCHCI 2771-1471 2771-1463 2023 6 1 Malini Srinivasan Department of Media and Communication, School of Communication, Central University of Tamil Nadu, India Jishnu Dineshan Department of Media and Communication, School of Communication, Central University of Tamil Nadu, India Gondi Surender Dhanunjay Department of Media and Communication, School of Communication, Central University of Tamil Nadu, India Shamala Ramappa Department of Media and Communication, School of Communication, Central University of Tamil Nadu, India India is still facing the aftermath of the second wave of covid 19. However, in between the first wave and second wave India witnessed long and tortuous assembly elections in four states of Southern India. This paper explores the coverage of covid 19 and assembly elections in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in two of the most circulated newspapers Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi from Kerala and Dinamalar and Dinathanthi from Tamil Nadu. E-papers from February 26, 2021- April 6, 2021, are collected for analysis. 7466 news articles are analyzed to find out the coverage of Covid 19 and assembly elections. The study questions the social responsibility of media platforms that set the media agenda in favor of assembly elections and hence averting the covid 19 news. 2023 18 31 1993 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 10.54216/JCHCI.060102 https://www.americaspg.com/journal/25/article/1993 https://www.americaspg.com/storage/81772458958.pdf