ABSTRACT

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.

Chapter 13 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com.

chapter 1|13 pages

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|65 pages

Government Communications

chapter 2|16 pages

From Consensus to Dissensus

The UK's Management of a Pandemic in a Divided Nation

chapter 3|15 pages

Beyond Control and Resistance

The Dual Narrative of the Coronavirus Outbreak in Digital China

chapter 4|17 pages

COVID-19 in Chile

A Health Crisis amidst a Political Crisis amidst a Social Crisis

chapter 5|15 pages

The Italian Prime Minister as a Captain in the Storm

The Pandemic as an Opportunity to Build Personalized Political Leadership

part 2|74 pages

Media Coverage

chapter 6|18 pages

Interactive Propaganda

How Fox News and Donald Trump Co-produced False Narratives about the COVID-19 Crisis

chapter 7|19 pages

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

chapter 8|16 pages

More than “a Little Flu”

Alternative Digital Journalism and the Struggle to Re-Frame the Brazilian Government's Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak

chapter 9|19 pages

When a Polarized Media System Meets a Pandemic

Framing the Political Discord over COVID-19 Aid Campaigns in Turkey

part 3|69 pages

Public Opinion

chapter 10|17 pages

Divided We Trust?

The Role of Polarization on Rally-around-the-Flag Effects during the COVID-19 Crisis

chapter 12|17 pages

“I Don't Vote Because I Don't Want to Get Infected”

Pandemic, Polarization, and Public Trust during the 2020 Presidential Election in Poland

chapter 13|15 pages

The Swedish Way

How Ideology and Media Use Influenced the Formation, Maintenance and Change of Beliefs about the Coronavirus