Political Communication and COVID-19: Governance and Rhetoric in Times of Crisis

373 Pages·2021·3.367 MB·English

by  Darren Lilleker, Ioana A. Coman, Miloš Gregor, Edoardo Novelli

POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
AND COVID-19
This edited collection compares and analyses the most prominent political com-
municative responses to the outbreak and global spread of the COVID-19 strain
of coronavirus within 27 nations across five continents and two supranational
organisations: the European Union (EU) and the World Health Organisation
(WHO). The book encompasses the various governments’ communication of
the crisis, the role played by opposition and the vibrancy of the information
environment within each nation.
The chapters analyse the communication drawing on theoretical perspectives
drawn from the fields of crisis communication, political communication and
political psychology. In doing so the book develops a framework to assess the
extent to which state communication followed the key indicators of effective
communication encapsulated in the principles of: being first; being right; being
credible; expressing empathy; promoting action and showing respect. The book
also examines how communication circulated within the mass and social media
environments and what impact differences in spokespersons, messages and the
broader context have on the success of implementing measures likely to reduce
the spread of the virus. Cumulatively, the authors develop a global analysis of the
responses and how these are shaped by their specific contexts and by the flow
of information, while offering lessons for future political crisis communication.
This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of politics, com-
munication and public relations, specifically on courses and modules relating to
current affairs, crisis communication and strategic communication, as well as
practitioners working in the field of health crisis communication.
Darren Lilleker is a Professor of Political Communication in the Faculty of
Media and Communication at Bournemouth University, UK. He is Convenor of
the Centre for Comparative Politics and Media Research and teaches across the
politics programmes. He has led a range of research projects using qualitative and
quantitative methods; and delivered lectures and workshops to students across the
world.
Ioana A. Coman is an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University, USA. She
teaches courses focused on public relations, journalism and entrepreneurship. Her
research focuses on how different actors engage and interact in risk and crisis com-
munication situations via different platforms, within different contexts and at dif-
ferent levels. Her research has received national and international awards and grants
including the Page/Johnson Legacy Scholar (2019 and 2020).
Miloš Gregor is an Assistant Professor at Masaryk University, the Czech Republic.
He teaches courses on political communication and marketing, propaganda, disin-
formation and fake news. Together with Petra Mlejnková, he is a mentor of projects
Choose Your Info (Zvol si info) and Fakescape, both dedicated to media literacy
awareness. Both projects received awards in the international Peer to Peer: Global
Digital Challenge competition.
Edoardo Novelli is an Associate Professor at the University of Roma Tre, Italy.
He teaches Political Communication and Media Sociology. His research interests
focus on political communication, history of propaganda, electoral campaigns, and
on the relationship between politics, media and images. He has been Principal
Investigator of international research projects, including the European Election
Monitoring Centre, and he is Head of the digital archive of Italian political
commercials.

Politics, Media and Political Communication
Titles in this series include:
Communication in Global Jihad
Jonathan Matusitz
Democracy and Fake News
Information Manipulation and Post-Truth Politics
Edited by Serena Giusti and Elisa Piras
Political Communication and COVID-19
Governance and Rhetoric in Times of Crisis
Edited by Darren Lilleker, Ioana A. Coman, Miloš Gregor and Edoardo Novelli
For more information about this series, please visit: https :/ /ww w .rou tledg e .com
/Poli tics- Media -and- Polit ical-C ommun icat ion /bo o k- s eries/ POLME D
POLITICAL
COMMUNICATION
AND COVID-19
Governance and Rhetoric
in Times of Crisis
Edited by Darren Lilleker, Ioana A. Coman,
Miloš Gregor and Edoardo Novelli
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Darren Lilleker, Ioana A. Coman,
Miloš Gregor and Edoardo Novelli; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Darren Lilleker, Ioana A. Coman, Miloš Gregor and
Edoardo Novelli to be identified as the authors of the editorial material,
and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-63683-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-63679-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-12025-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
CONTENTS
Tables x
Contributors xi
Foreword xviii
Introduction: Political communication, governance and
rhetoric in times of crisis 1
Ioana A. Coman, Dalia Elsheikh, Miloš Gregor,
Darren Lilleker and Edoardo Novelli
CASE STUDIES 17
1 World Health Organisation: The challenges of providing
global leadership 19
Darren Lilleker and Miloš Gregor
2 China: Diversion, ingratiation and victimisation 34
Menglin Liu and Shan Xu
3 Japan: New directions for digital Japan 44
Leslie Tkach-Kawasaki
4 South Korea: No shutdown, no lockdown 55
Jangyul Robert Kim and Sera Choi
5 The United States: Politics versus science? 67
John M. Callahan
viii Contents
6 The EU: The story of a tragic hero and the 27 dwarfs 79
Dennis Lichtenstein
7 France: An unpopular government facing an unprecedented
crisis 88
Pierre-Emmanuel Guigo
8 Australia: A triumph of sorts 99
Fiona Wade
9 Germany: Between a patchwork and best-practice 111
Isabelle Borucki and Ulrike Klinger
10 India: A spectacle of mismanagement 123
Chindu Sreedharan
11 Italy: The frontrunner of the Western countries in an
unexpected crisis 132
Edoardo Novelli
12 Spain: Managing the uncertain while facing economic collapse 145
Sergio Pérez Castaños and Alberto Mora Rodríguez
13 Sweden: Lone hero or stubborn outlier? 155
Bengt Johansson and Orla Vigsø
14 The UK: From consensus to confusion 165
Ruth Garland and Darren Lilleker
15 Egypt: Emotive speech masks a complicated reality 177
Dalia Elsheikh
16 Russia: A glass wall 188
Svetlana S. Bodrunova
17 Austria: A ski resort as the virus slingshot of Europe 201
Katie Bates and Lore Hayek
18 Iran: Disciplinary strategies and governmental campaigning 211
Azra Ghandeharion and Josef Kraus
Contents ix
19 Brazil: More than just a little flu 220
Ícaro Joathan, Andrea Medrado and Thainã Medeiros
20 Norway: From strict measures to pragmatic flexibility 231
Bente Kalsnes and Eli Skogerbø
21 Iceland: No lockdown and experts at the forefront 239
Jón Gunnar Ólafsson
22 Ireland: Solid swansong from caretaker government 248
Dawn Wheatley
23 The Czech Republic: Self-proclaimed role models 259
Otto Eibl and Miloš Gregor
24 Hungary: Illiberal crisis management 269
Norbert Merkovity, Márton Bene and Xénia Farkas
25 Poland: Protecting the nation while struggling to maintain
power 280
Michał Jacuński
26 Ghana: Political expediency or competent leadership? 292
Sally Osei-Appiah
27 South Africa: A united front? A divided government 303
Robert Mattes and Ian Glenn
28 Kosovo: Political crisis, one more challenge alongside
COVID-19 312
Dren Gërguri
29 Turkey: Declaring war on an epidemic 323
Elif Kahraman
30 Political communication and COVID-19: Governance and
rhetoric in global comparative perspective 333
Darren Lilleker, Ioana Coman, Miloš Gregor and Edoardo Novelli