Crafting Crisis Narratives

Abstract

Communication is pivotal when a society faces a sudden, disruptive and disturbing event. People want to know what is going on, why it is happening, what is done to safeguard them and what they can to protect themselves. During COVID-19, governments were the main sources of that information, at least initially. Governments tried to shape the attitudes, emotions and behaviours of citizens in accordance with their policies. Over time, alternative crisis narratives emerged and influenced citizen behaviour. This chapter examines crisis communication in the COVID-19 crisis: how did leaders try to ‘make making’ of this unprecedented threat? How did they deal with the alternative crisis frames that emerged over time?

The Trump Administration and the COVID‐19 crisis: Exploring the warning‐response problems and missed opportunities of a public health emergency

“…Responding to pandemics is challenging, and many countries struggled to manage the COVID‐19 crisis (Boin et al, 2021 ). It is also important to recognize that not all of the problems of the US response can be laid at the feet of President Trump.…”

“…Even in the face of an urgent crisis, uncertainty and the tendency to frame events in ways that buttress existing beliefs and preferences can render policy actors resistant to changing priorities (Baumgartner & Jones, 1991 ; Nohrstedt et al, 2021 ; Weible et al, 2020 ). Political leaders, particularly in election years, will also be extremely sensitive to how a crisis might impact their political fortunes (Boin et al, 2021 , p. 75).…”

“…In addition, blame games, driven by the desire to avoid being held accountable for sub‐optimal outcomes, can also influence how an issue is framed, which policies are or are not pursued, and can hinder crisis management (Brändström & Kuipers, 2003 ; Boin et al, 2019 , p. 151). Incumbents facing an upcoming election have a strong incentive to shift responsibility and blame others by endogenizing the causes of a crisis (Boin et al, 2021 , p. 71–74).…”

Comparative moral economies of crisis

“…The following analysis seeks to exemplify these claims through a comparison of national-cultural differences in the responses to the COVID-19 global mega-crisis (Boin et al, 2021), and how these different moral economies translated initially into divergent governmental responses to the pandemic. We recognized in these initial responses tendencies similar to those that we had discerned in relation to the moral economies of different national groups held in Japanese POW camps some 80 years previously (Manning, 2012a, 2012b).…”

Do Economic Recovery Packages Open a Window of Opportunity for Corruption and Mismanagement? The Case of Italy in the Aftermath of the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…In addition to the health emergency, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a multitude of cascading crises that have affected society, economy, and governance (Boin et al, 2021 ). In an effort to control the spread of the disease, many governments in various regions have established stringent lockdown measures, restricting the mobility of hundreds of millions and paralysing large sectors of the economy.…”