Communicating science in times of crisis : the COVID-19 pandemic

Learn more about how people communicate during crises with this insightful collection of resources In Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 Pandemic , distinguished academics and editors H. Dan O’Hair and Mary John O’Hair have delivered an insightful collection of resources designed to shed light on the implications of attempting to communicate science to the public in times of crisis. Using the recent and ongoing coronavirus outbreak as a case study, the authors explain how to balance scientific findings with social and cultural issues, the ability of media to facilitate science and mitigate the impact of adverse events, and the ethical repercussions of communication during unpredictable, ongoing events. The first volume in a set of two, Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 Pandemic isolates a particular issue or concern in each chapter and exposes the difficult choices and processes facing communicators in times of crisis or upheaval. The book connects scientific issues with public policy and creates a coherent fabric across several communication studies and disciplines. The subjects addressed include: A detailed background discussion of historical medical crises and how they were handled by the scientific and political communities of the time Cognitive and emotional responses to communications during a crisis Social media communication during a crisis, and the use of social media by authority figures during crises Communications about health care-related subjects Data strategies undertaken by people in authority during the coronavirus crisis Perfect for communication scholars and researchers who focus on media and communication, Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 Pandemic also has a place on the bookshelves of those who specialize in particular aspects of the contexts raised in each of the chapters: social media communication, public policy, and health care. Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: The COVID-19 Pandemic Volume 1 Contents Part 1: Conceptualizing Communication Science and COVID-19 1. Managing Science Communication in a Pandemic 2. Comprehending Covidiocy Communication: Dismisinformation, Conspiracy Theory, and Fake News 3. How Existential Anxiety Shapes Communication in Coping with the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Terror Management Theory Perspective Part 2: Promoting Health and Well-being 4. Communication and COVID-19: Challenges in Evidence-based Healthcare Design 5. Identity and Information Overload: Examining the Impact of Health Messaging in Times of Crisis 6. Social Media, Risk Perceptions Related to COVID-19, and Health Outcomes 7. Overcoming Obstacles to Collective Action by Communicating Compassion in Science 8. Communicating the Science of COVID-19 to Children: Meet the Helpers 9. The Use of Telehealth in Behavioral Health and Educational Contexts During COVID-19 and Beyond Part 3: Advancing Models of Information and Media 10. Toward a New Model of Public Relations Crisis and Risk Communication Following Pandemics 11. Perspective Change in a Time of Crisis: The Emotion and Critical Reflection Model 12. Social Media Surveillance and (Dis)Misinformation in the COVID-19 Pandemic 13. Science Communication and Inoculation: Mitigating the Effects of the Coronavirus Outbreak Part 4: Examining Policy and Leadership 14. Communicating with Policymakers in a Pandemic 15. Equally Unpleasant Choices: Observations on School Leadership in a Time of Crisis 16. Controlling the Narrative: Mixed Messages and Presidential Credibility 17. Communicating Death and Dying in the COVID-19 Pandemic Index EULA "For science communication to function competently, it needs to understand the attitudes and beliefs currently at play among its audiences. Among the currents of the contemporary noosphere are the fake news, conspiracy theories, and various forms of information distortion, both innocent and malign by design. This chapter examines various conceptual approaches to defining these forms of information distortion, develops a typology to incorporate many of the relevant key features and dimensions, and selectively reviews several lines of theoretical perspectives that elucidate the nature of such information and its credibility with audiences. The implications of developing better theoretical understandings of such dismisinformation are elaborated"-- Provided by publisher