ABSTRACT
Usually, teachers and their work performance are often the subject of media coverage, ranging from positive examples to critical judgements. Accordingly, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was also controversial reporting on how teachers met the new challenges. The present study experimentally investigates the effects of media coverage on ( prospective) teachers' perceived professional recognition and activation of their metastereotypical perceptions. Respondents (N = 211) were randomly confronted with critical or positive articles from the print media or assigned to a control group before metastereotypes and perceived recognition were assessed. After being confronted with the critical articles, teachers stated that they felt perceived as less competent by society. The professional perception of recognition was also lower than for the group that had dealt with positive articles. In contrast, student teachers' reports didn't show any significant differences between the experimental conditions. In the discussion, the findings and their implications are considered.