Political Communication in the Time of Coronavirus

Description

This book examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the flows of communication between politicians, journalists, and citizens. Distinguished contributors grapple with how the pandemic, as a global unexpected event, disrupted the communication process and changed the relationships between politics, media, and publics, the three central players of political communication. Using different methodologies, they scrutinize changes in government communication, (new) media coverage, and public opinion during this crisis. The book moves beyond the USA and Western Europe to include cases from Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia, taking into account how variations in the political context, the media system and personal leadership can influence how the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the political communication process. It is an ideal text for advanced students and scholars of political communication, political science, and media studies. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Contributors Foreword 1 COVID-19 as an Ideal Case for a Rally-around-the-Flag? How Government Communication, Media Coverage and a Polarized Public Sphere Determine Leadership Approvals in Times of Crisis PART 1 Government Communications 2 From Consensus to Dissensus: The UK’s Management of a Pandemic in a Divided Nation 3 Beyond Control and Resistance: The Dual Narrative of the Coronavirus Outbreak in Digital China 4 COVID-19 in Chile: A Health Crisis amidst a Political Crisis amidst a Social Crisis 5 The Italian Prime Minister as a Captain in the Storm: The Pandemic as an Opportunity to Build Personalized Political Leadership PART 2 Media Coverage 6 Interactive Propaganda: How Fox News and Donald Trump Co-produced False Narratives about the COVID-19 Crisis 7 Stooges of the System or Holistic Observers?: A Computational Analysis of News Media’s Facebook Posts on Political Actors during the Coronavirus Crisis in Germany 8 More than “a Little Flu”: Alternative Digital Journalism and the Struggle to Re-Frame the Brazilian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak 9 When a Polarized Media System Meets a Pandemic: Framing the Political Discord over COVID-19 Aid Campaigns in Turkey PART 3 Public Opinion 10 Divided We Trust?: The Role of Polarization on Rallyaround-the-Flag Effects during the COVID-19 Crisis 11 The Role of Political Polarization on American and Australian Trust and Media Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic 12 “I Don’t Vote Because I Don’t Want to Get Infected”: Pandemic, Polarization, and Public Trust during the 2020 Presidential Election in Poland 13 The Swedish Way: How Ideology and Media Use Influenced the Formation, Maintenance and Change of Beliefs about the Coronavirus Index