At the intersection of two countries: A comparative critical analysis of COVID-19 communication in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

This research provides critical, comparative insights into the public communication responses employed by Australia and New Zealand during the first twelve months following the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic. The two nations share a similar socio-political and cultural context, but despite being highlighted by the international media as early success stories, their public communication responses to the pandemic showed noteworthy differences. Borrowing from cultural studies, this paper applies the circuit of culture model and offers a snapshot in time that reinforces the importance of socio-cultural awareness when communicating intricate and challenging information. It supports the idea that a range of effective solutions to complex communication challenges are possible and may result in a similar outcome, including strengthened identities and national pride during uncertain times.

The Decentralized Generation of Public Knowledge during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Examples from Australia

“…At the same time, news reporting, which had become more critical in late 2020 [42], now became even divisive [53]. While mainstream media in Australia always had their own audiences, with perceived biases, such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporations TV channels being regarded as "leftist" by conservative politicians and Murdoch's "The Australian" being seen as too conservative by others, public media were still broad in their coverage.…”