Navigating Pandemic Phases

During a pandemic, the advice issued by public health authorities undergoes significant scrutiny, potentially affecting public adherence to recommended measures. Trust and trustworthiness become key. This book analyses the rhetorical strategies of the Norwegian public health authorities as the COVID-19 pandemic moved through phases that presented different rhetorical problems and challenges. Many consider the Norwegian response successful, making it a particularly interesting case. Adopting an organisation-focused viewpoint, the analysis examines communication strategies through a dataset collected as the pandemic evolved. This included observations within communication departments of the main public health agencies during March and April 2020. The study offers five key insights: 1) A pandemic rhetorical situation has changing constraints and opportunities that influence the agency of the rhetor and necessitates bottom-up, continuing situational analysis and attention to perceptions; 2) The notion of “the rhetorical situation” conceptualises different phases that “bleed” into each other; 3) Trust and trustworthiness are negotiated through specific rhetorical strategies; 4) Transparency is the most crucial strategy; 5) Authorities used a combination of invitational rhetoric, providing a role for the citizens to willingly contribute to curbing the virus, and imperative form through simple directives that citizens were expected to follow. 

The primary audience for this book is scholars and practitioners within crisis communication. The book is written by a team from the “Pandemic Rhetoric” project, financed by the Research Council of Norway, consisting of Øyvind Ihlen (University of Oslo), Sine Nørholm Just (Roskilde University), Jens E. Kjeldsen (University of Bergen), Ragnhild Mølster (University of Bergen), Truls Strand Offerdal (University of Oslo), Joel Rasmussen (Örebro University), and Eli Skogerbø (University of Oslo). 

Read an interview with three of the authors on NordMedia Network 

Contents

• Preface
• List of figures and tables
• Chapter 1. Introduction
  • The Norwegian case
    • Context
    • Evaluation of the handling of COVID-19
  • Trust, trustworthiness, and etos
  • Theoretical framework: Rhetorical situations and rhetorical strategies
  • Pandemic phases and structure of the book
• Chapter 2. How to create risk understanding and acceptability: The risk and preparedness phase
  • The Rhetorical situation
    • Rhetorical problem
    • Rhetorical audience
    • Rhetorical constraints and opportunities 
  • Rhetorical strategies
    • A rhetoric of planning
    • Expository rhetoric
    • Prescriptive rhetoric
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 3. How to signal control, balance fear and indifference, and prepare people: The crisis build-up phase
  • The Rhetorical situation
    • Rhetorical problem
    • Rhetorical audience
    • Rhetorical constraints and opportunities
  • Rhetorical strategies
    • A reassuring rhetoric
    • Introducing self-efficacy measures
    • Transparency about uncertainties and disagreements
    • Constituting expert position
    • Implementing two-way communication
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 4. How to establish urgency, gain compliance, and handle uncertainty: The crisis and full alarm phase
  • The Rhetorical situation
    • Rhetorical problem
    • Rhetorical audience
    • Rhetorical constraints and opportunities
  • Rhetorical strategies
    • Establishing urgency
    • Establishing legitimacy
    • Constituting the citizens as a common unity and part of the solution
    • Strengthening self-efficacy and providing direction for action
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 5. How to manage perceived severity and fight fatigue, while defending policy: The waves of crisis phase
  • The Rhetorical situation
    • Rhetorical problem
    • Rhetorical audience
    • Rhetorical constraints and opportunities
  • Rhetorical strategies
    • Managing perceived severity over time
    • Segmenting audiences and diversifying messages
    • Solidarity and caring rhetoric
    • Defending against criticism
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 6. How to build trust in vaccines and vaccination: The solution phase
  • The Rhetorical situation
    • Rhetorical problem
    • Rhetorical audience
    • Rhetorical constraints and opportunities
  • Rhetorical strategies
    • Practising transparency
    • Dialogue and social media use
    • Taking the middle ground
    • Creating identification
    • Dissociation of vaccine types
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 7. How to find the right time to declare that the pandemic is over: The end of crisis phase
  • The Rhetorical situation
    • Rhetorical problem
    • Rhetorical audience
    • Rhetorical constraints and opportunities
  • Rhetorical strategies
    • Finding truth in numbers
    • Feeling time
    • Ending the state of emergency
    • And the rest is silence - or is it?
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 8. Conclusion
  • Recap: Trustworthiness
  • Specific responses in the rhetorical situations of the pandemic
  • Overarching rhetorical strategies during the crisis
    • Asserting authority
    • Inviting participation and dialogue
    • Enhancing transparency
    • Constituting the situation and the audience
    • Directing action
  • Rhetorical responces and the media arena
  • Comparing Norway with Sweden and Denmark
  • Critical issues concerning communication
  • Final words
• References
• Appendix A. Research design and datasets
• Appendix B. Examples of observation notes
• Appendix C. Key events of COVID-19 in Norway