Pandemic Rhetoric: Risk Communication Strategies in a Changed Media Landscape (PAR)

In the Spring of 2020, Norway was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. This project focuses on the communication challenges of the public health authorities in this regard. Of particular interest is how the media landscape has changed. An increasing number of people get their news only through social media and trust is increasingly a negotiated phenomenon. The PAR-project meets the urgent need to understand the rhetorical conditions and challenges for risk and crisis communication in this changed landscape. The goal is to create a better understanding, which in turn can help in formulating fitting channel and content strategies. The project researches how Scandinavian public health authorities are communicating during the pandemic. The focus is on 1) the channel use and rhetorical strategies, 2) the media where risk is constituted and trust negotiated, and, 3) how the public in the mentioned countries perceive the channel use and rhetoric. The project draws on literature from rhetoric, risk communication, trust research and media studies. A specific focus is on the notions of ethos and the rhetorical situation where legacy media lose ground to social media. This calls for new strategies carefully incorporating 'the bureaucratic ethos' or perceived seriousness of the authorities.

A pandemic outbreak like COVID-19 and the rapid changes in the media landscape create a societal challenge. An increasing number of people get their news only through social media and institutional and epistemic trust are increasingly under negotiation. The problem is illustrated by, for instance, how some anti-vaccine Facebook-groups have explicit policies to shut out pro-vaccine arguments. The focus of the PAR-project is on meeting the urgent need to understand the rhetorical conditions and challenges for risk communication in this changed landscape, and to assist in formulating fitting channel and content strategies. Using a most similar design approach, the project focuses on public risk communication regarding pandemics in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. A comparison across these three countries will allow for a systematic analysis of the pressing problem, the audience, the rhetorical constraints and possibilities for the risk rhetoric. The focus is on 1) the channel use and rhetorical strategies, 2) the media where risk is constituted and trust negotiated, and, 3) how the public in the mentioned countries perceive the channel use and rhetoric. The project draws on literature from rhetoric, risk communication, trust research and media studies. A specific focus is on the notions of ethos and the rhetorical situation where legacy media lose ground to social media. Short pathos-filled arguments might have better sway than the relatively long and complex ethos- and logos-arguments traditionally used by public authorities. This calls for new strategies carefully incorporating the bureaucratic ethos of the authorities. Extensive user involvement is secured by cooperation with health authorities in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. This provides access to the expertise and applied research of these institutions, and helps make sure that the research is practically relevant.