During the early phase of the Covid-19 crisis, televised speeches and press conferences were one of the preferred means of government communication. They emphasized the urgency and severity of the ...situation and allowed actors to lead news coverage. While in the immediate phase of the crisis these press conferences were also directed at the general public, their original function was, of course, to inform and influence media coverage. The article investigates how government press conferences were received in newspapers in the first phase of Covid-19, answering two research questions: Did a rally-around-the-flag effect occur among journalists during Covid-19? And how did government press conferences influence salience and sentiment in newspaper opinion pieces? To answer these questions, I draw on a unique dataset, including transcripts of all Covid-19 press conferences in five European countries between January and July 2020, as well as opinion pieces from tabloid and broadsheet newspapers. Based on a mix of automated and manual content analysis, the results reveal how factors such as country context, newspaper type, and the progress of a pandemic can influence how the government agenda is reflected in the media in times of crisis.
While the relevance of political science is often evaluated with respect to its scholarly impact, evaluations of the teaching impact are rare. This paper offers a step towards strengthening the ...societal relevance of a political science degree. We treat the societal relevance of political science as a matter of the (non-)academic career preparation and civic education of its graduates. We are therefore interested in the career paths and individual learning outcomes of Austrian political science graduates. Data from the Graduate Monitoring and semi-structured interviews show that most graduates work outside of academia, moreover, as our results show, many graduates state that they had to acquire additional skills for their professional careers. Consequently, future curricula might consider a stronger focus on non-academic career preparation. At the same time, however, graduates highly value the civic dimension of the programme and the impact it had on their political agency.
Politics in Austria is still a male business. Even though in 2017, women occupied 34 percent of the seats in Austria’s Nationalrat, female MPs are still underrepresented. Moreover, previous studies ...have shown that women receive substantially less media coverage than men do and this, for instance, disadvantages female politicians to male politicians in election campaigns. Our study seeks to contribute to this debate by adding a longitudinal perspective and substantially underpinning it with empirical data. We use quantitative content analysis to examine whether the election coverage of female politicians in Austrian news media has changed between 2008 and 2017. Our findings show low visibility of female politicians in Austrian campaign coverage that is even decreasing over time; furthermore, the political role a female politician occupies plays a crucial role for her media visibility.
Abstract
Threat language is an important, albeit ambivalent, element of political crisis communication. It raises public awareness and enhances compliance with emergency measures, but, if overused, ...it also carries the risk of making governments appear overwhelmed by a crisis. Research on political communication during the COVID‐19 pandemic has so far only produced very limited insights into the use of threat language by governments. To address this gap in the literature, our article analyses which factors influence the likelihood of threat language in the crisis communication of governments. We argue that individual‐level factors (politician vs. non‐politician and gender) shape the odds of including threat language and that contextual factors (time and subject area) determine the probability with which speakers employ this communication tool.
Based on a unique dataset of 1108 press conferences with 433 speakers in 17 OECD countries and three US states, we demonstrate that men are slightly more prone to employ threat language than women. The most important determinant of its use, however, is the subject area that speakers are addressing. In particular, in the context of the health system and public management, speeches are likely to be associated with risks, dangers, and threats. Overall, our findings imply that crisis communication across countries is not as diverse as indicated by previous literature. Once countries are facing a comparable challenge, political actors largely communicate in a similar manner.
This paper addresses the subject of letters to the editor as one of the longest standing forums for public discussion and debate by ordinary citizens. To show how the voice of ordinary citizens is ...presented in letters to the editor during national election campaigns over a period of ten years (2008, 2013 & 2017), we are focusing on the Austrian Kronen Zeitung: A newspaper with an exceptionally high market share of up to 40% during the examination period, a heavy focus on the letters section with three pages per day, and a self-declared willingness to take a stance, especially during election periods. Based on a quantitative content analysis of 530 letters to the editor and 525 articles in the politics section as well as survey data from the Austrian national election study on the political positions of the Kronen Zeitung's readers, we find that letters to the editor in the Kronen Zeitung do not reflect, but complement the articles in the politics section. The tone of the letters is more negative than that of news articles, but the letters closely reflect the readers' political positions, therefore offering identification with the paper.
Austria Bates, Katie; Hayek, Lore
Political Communication and COVID-19,
2021, Letnik:
1
Book Chapter
Austria was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic only weeks after a new coalition government between the conservative ÖVP and the Green Party had taken office. Crisis communication on the COVID-19 measures ...was particularly crucial for the government's approval. The government's choice of televised press conferences as their main means of communication indicated the graveness of the situation, as they are perceived as a very strong means to lead news coverage. In this chapter, we analyse the government's (almost daily) televised press conferences between mid-March and May 2020, which they used to convey concrete COVID-19 laws and measures as well as reassure the public. Our results show firstly, the pandemic was mainly framed as a threat to Austria's national security and safety; secondly, unlike other countries, Austria did not rely on health specialists to inform the public about the pandemic. Incidentally, the pandemic thrust the OVP's coalition partner into the spotlight, with the Green Party's Rudolf Anschober, the Health Minister, becoming one of Austria's most popular politicians. Overall, the measures to prevent spread of COVID-19 were effective, but the handling of the outbreak in the ski resort of Ischgl and the government's inconsistent communication on the measures became subject of increasing criticism.
This chapter analyses the government's televised press conferences between mid-March and May 2020, which they used to convey concrete Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) laws and measures as well as reassure the public. The emergence of the infamous 'Ibiza'-video, which showed the head of the right-wing Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian Strache, discussing potential business opportunities in return for government favours with an alleged Russian oligarch in a holiday finca on the Spanish island, led to the collapse of the centre-right government and snap elections in September. The government issued an 'Easter decree' limiting the number of people at private festivities to five. Crises call for intense communication. Political leaders are expected to reduce public uncertainties caused by the crisis and provide 'meaning making'. Social protection measures were introduced in 11 press conferences, ten of which were in March.
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