International Perspectives on Covid-19 Communication Ecologies

Public Health Agencies' Online Communication in Italy, Sweden, and the United States

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3757682
AutoresSerena Tagliacozzo (0000-0003-2067-9535, National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies, Rome, Italy, autor de correspondencia), Frederike Albrecht (0000-0001-7546-6110, Swedish Defence University, Stockholm, Sweden), N Emel Ganapati (0000-0003-0967-9593, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA)
Año2021
Volumen65
Número7
Páginas934-955
Fecha de publicación2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0002764221992832
OpenAlexW3126308156
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas20
Referencias citadas50

Communicating during a crisis can be challenging for public agencies as their communication ecology becomes increasingly complex while the need for fast and reliable public communication remains high. Using the lens of communication ecology, this study examines the online communication of national public health agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Sweden, and the United States. Based on content analysis of Twitter data ( n = 856) and agency press releases ( n = 95), this article investigates two main questions: (1) How, and to what extent, did national public health agencies coordinate their online communication with other agencies and organizations? (2) How was online communication from the agencies diversified in terms of targeting specific organizations and social groups? Our findings indicate that public health agencies relied heavily on internal scientific expertise and predominately coordinated their communication efforts with national government agencies. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that agencies in each country differed in how they diversify information; however, all agencies provided tailored information to at least some organizations and social groups. Across the three countries, information tailored for several vulnerable groups (e.g., pregnant women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and homeless populations) was largely absent, which may contribute to negative consequences for these groups

Agency (philosophy) · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Government (linguistics) · Health communication · Immigration · Pandemic · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Social media · Social science · Sociology · Media Studies and Communication · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Public Relations and Crisis Communication