When a public event of emergency occurs, the government and the public’s demands for both “quality” and “quantity” of science popularization would increase significantly. As an important category of science and technology news, paper news (news articles with academic papers as leading clues and main contents) has been attracting more and more attention in recent years, and has become a “sharp weapon” of science popularization in public emergencies. The significant role of paper news is highlighted in reporting the 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) at the beginning of 2020. Taking paper news covering COVID-19 in China Science Daily as an example, this study analyzed the data presentation and demand basis of paper news, compared paper news during COVID-19 and SARS in 2003, studied the unique advantages of paper news, summarized its main problems, and put forward specific strategies and suggestions regarding the problems.