New book on strategic communication in a global crisis edited by Leeds Beckett Professor

Bringing together empirical research findings about the COVID-19 pandemic from around the world, the book has been a collaborative effort made by renowned communications scholars from Europe and the US.

Professor Ralph Tench worked alongside Dr Juan Meng, the Head of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Georgia, USA and Professor Angeles Moreno, outgoing President of EUPRERA and a scholar at the high-performance Group of Advanced Studies on Communication (GEAC) of the University Rey Juan Carlos, Spain.

Strategic Communication in a Global Crisis captures international experiences and observations of strategic communication during one of the most impactful health crises of the modern era. The book makes a unique and timely contribution by exploring in depth the topic of strategic communication and the COVID pandemic from a global perspective.

The book debates rich empirical evidence gained through a transnational team of senior researchers representing Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa, making it one of the largest studies conducted in the field on the topic of strategic communication and COVID. By emphasising the diverse voices and communication strategies used by each investigated country when coping with the COVID pandemic, the book provides a current and compelling picture of global practice on strategic communication during and beyond the pandemic. 

Trust and communication transparency

The book acknowledges the views of diverse actors in the process of communication during the COVID health crisis and captures a global perspective of how citizens accessed, interpreted and evaluated information. Across the world the public consumed news about the pandemic through multiple platforms simultaneously, but at the same time there are local media preferences that reinforce the importance of traditional journalist-driven media which is strongly affected by trust. Trust is found to be given or placed in organizations, individuals and institutions.

Adaptation and change

Strategic communication professionals have adapted during the COVID pandemic and have proven themselves resilient and flexible enough to navigate through the rapid changes that we experienced, as the crisis evolved and placed multiple demands on the systems of communication.

Utilising the full media landscape

Another focus in the book is understanding the communication approaches applied in diverse regions of the world by utilising shared methodological instruments. This approach permitted researchers to capture cultural idiosyncrasies from different countries in the public’s responses to the pandemic, giving the reader opportunity to compare and understand the common factors that emerge through the responses to a global issue.

Evolving message transmission and consumption

The book also presents some longitudinal interpretations that allow the reader to understand how and why the evaluations about government and institutional communications evolve during the course of the pandemic.

The book is structured in four sections and demonstrates a diversity of findings and debates in three directions: the subjects (of the communication processes), the places (geographical diversity) and the time, through longitudinal analysis and interpretations.

As stated, this edited volume of collected empirical research serves one primary purpose – to investigate the role of strategic communication in a global pandemic. At a time when individuals, organizations and societies all faced the challenge and uncertainty caused by COVID, we looked for timely, accurate and effective communication as part of coping solutions, especially in government and other spheres of the public sector.

Commenting on the book’s contribution, Professor Ralph Tench said:

“Our collection of research on strategic communication and the pandemic allows us to confirm the critical role of communication practitioners in information distribution and message development. Despite the fact that the impact of the pandemic in modern history will be multifarious and long lasting from a range of perspectives, strategic communication and effective leadership remain central to the mission and purpose of most public health crises and campaigns.

“If communication practitioners are expected to develop better and more transparent communication in order to help the public understand the knowledge required during a pandemic, it is important to encourage research with greater rigour across a wide variety of political and cultural systems while being relevant and useful in practice.

“As public relations and communication practitioners have been perceived to play a fundamental role in leading strategic communication in a pivotal moment such as the COVID pandemic, one of the main questions that will need to be re-addressed is the significance of strategic communication in public health crises and emergencies when society at large is viewing and experiencing the unprecedented changes and uncertainty that will occur during similar future times of uncertainty.”

Find out more about Strategic Communications in a Global Crisis, published by Routledge.