Click here to download

If a picture is not worth a thousand words. Digital infographics use during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis
Journal Title: SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE  
Author/s: Laura Solito, Letizia Materassi 
Year:  2021 Issue: 61 Language: English 
Pages:  19 Pg. 52-70 FullText PDF:  535 KB
DOI:  10.3280/SC2021-061005
(DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation:  clicca qui   and here 


This work aims to investigate the role played by public sector visual communi-cation within the specific context of an emergency. The analysis of the in-fographics divulged during the pandemic will focus on the meanings, themes, lin-guistic registers and narrative methods that have characterized the infor-mation divulged by the Ministry of Health and by Italian Regional Governments through institutional websites and social media accounts. The emergence of new idioms and language in the e-health management sector represents an opportunity to reflect on the roles and skills of public-sector communicators, and on emergen-cy communication as such.
Keywords: Public sector communication; Emergency Communication; In-fographics; Social Media; COVID-19.

  1. Battistelli F., Galantino M. G. (2020), Sociologia e politica del coronavirus. Tra opinioni e paure, Franco Angeli, Milano.
  2. Bennett P., Calman K., Curtis S., Fischbacher-Smith D. (eds.) (2010), Risk Communication and Public Health, Oxford University Press, New York.
  3. Comunello F. (eds.) (2014), Social media e comunicazione d’emergenza, Guerini Scientifica, Milano.
  4. Comunello F., Mulargia S. (2017), A #cultural_change is needed. Social media use in emergency communication by Italian local level institutions, Proceedings of the 14th ISCRAM Conference – Albi, France, May, pp. 512-521.
  5. Coombs W.T. (1995), Choosing the right words: the development of guidelines for the selection of the appropriate crisis response strategies, in «Management Communication Quarterly», 8, pp. 447-476. 
  6. Coombs W.T. (2020), Public Sector Crises: Realizations from Covid-19 for Crisis Communication, in «Partecipazione e Conflitto», 13(2), pp. 990-1001.
  7. Coombs W.T. & Holladay S.G. (eds.), (2010), The Handbook of Crisis Communication, Wiley-Blackwell, Chicester.
  8. Covello V. T. (2006), Risk communication and message mapping: A new tool for communicating effectively in public health emergencies and disasters, in «Journal of Emergency Management», 4(3), pp. 25-40.
  9. Ducci G., Lovari A., D’Ambrosi L. (2019), Fra schermi e schermaglie: le sfide del visual nello storytelling istituzionale, in «H-Ermes. Journal of Communication», 15, pp. 313-352.
  10. Ducci G., Materassi L., Solito L. (2020), Re-Connecting Scholars' Voices: An historical Review of Public Communication in Italy and New Challenges in the Open Government Framework, in «Partecipazione e conflitto», 13(2), pp. 1062-1084.
  11. Faccioli F., D’Ambrosi L., Ducci G., Lovari A. (2020), #DistantiMaUniti: la comunicazione pubblica tra innovazioni e fragilità alla ricerca di una ridefinizione, in «H-Ermes. Journal of Communication», 17, pp. 27-72.
  12. Hiltz S. R., Plotnick L. (2013), Dealing with information overload when using social media for emergency management: Emerging solutions, in ISCRAM (May).
  13. Kelidou E., Siountri K. (2020), The use of Infographics as an educational tool for the upcoming digital transition, in «International Conference on Cultural Informatics, Communication & Media Studies», vol. 1, no. 1.
  14. Liu B.F., Kim S. (2011), How organization framed the 2009 H1N1 pandemic via social and traditional media, in «Public Relations Review», 37, pp. 233-244.
  15. Lovari A. (2017), Social Media e Comunicazione della Salute. Profili istituzionali e pratiche digitali, Guerini Scientifica, Milano.
  16. Lovari A., Righetti N. (2020), La comunicazione pubblica della salute tra infodemia e fake news: il ruolo del Ministero della Salute nella sfida social al COVID-19, in «Mediascapes Journal», 15, pp. 156-173.
  17. Lundgren R., McMakin A. (2013), Risk communication: a handbook for communicating enviromental safety and health risks, Wiley-IEEE Press, Hoboken, NJ.
  18. Mangone E. (2020), La comunicazione del rischio: la pandemia da COVID-19, in «Mediascapes journal», 15, pp. 132-142.
  19. Mergel I., Bretschneider I. (2013), A Three Stage Adoption Process for Social Media Use in Government, in «Public Administration Review», 73(3), pp. 390-400.
  20. Moorhead S.A., Hazlett D.E., Harrison L., Carroll J.K., Irwin A., Hoving C. (2013), A new dimension of healthcare: Systematic review of the uses, benefits and limitations of social media for health communication, in «Journal of Medical Internet Research», 15, p. 85.
  21. Rodríguez H., Quarantelli E. L., Dynes R. R. (eds.) (2007), Handbook of Disaster Research, Springer, New York.
  22. Siricharoen W.V. (2015), Infographic role in helping communication for promoting health and well-being, in Conference proceedings of the CSCEET2015, Malaysia.
  23. Siricharoen W.V., Siricharoen N. (2018), Infographic utility in accelerating better health communication, in «Mobile Networks and Applications», 23, 1, pp. 57-67.
  24. Sala M., Scaglioni M. (eds.) (2020), L’altro virus. Comunicazione e disinformazione al tempo del COVID-19, Vita e Pensiero, Milano.
  25. Solito L. (2004), Cittadini e istituzioni: come comunicare, Carocci, Roma.
  26. Solito L., Sorrentino C. (2020), Dalla distanza sociale alle relazioni orizzontali. Appunti per un domani ormai alle porte, in «Mediascapes Journal», 15, pp. 59-68.
  27. Solito L., Materassi L., Pezzoli S., Sorrentino C. (2020), Percorsi in Comune. La comunicazione nelle municipalità toscane, Carocci, Roma.
  28. Solito L., Pezzoli S., Materassi L. (2019), Prove di «maturità». Social media e bisogni informativi della cittadinanza, in «Problemi dell’informazione», 44(2), pp. 339-364.
  29. Sorrentino C., Solito L., Pezzoli S., Materassi L. (2020), Relazioni promiscue. Appunti per una possibile ridefinizione dello spazio comunicativo, in «H-ermes. Journal of Communication», 17, pp. 239-268.
  30. Parisi L., Comunello F., Amico A. (2020), Networked volunteering during the 2013 Sardinian floods, in «Journal of Audience and Reception Studies», 17, 1, pp. 172-196.
  31. Reynolds B, Galdo J.H, Sokler L. (2002), Crisis and emergency risk communication, in -- http://www.cdc.gov/communications/emergency/cerc.htm (consulted on 30/12/2020).
  32. Ulmer R.R. (2007), Effective crisis communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
  33. White C.M. (2011), Socialmedia, crisis communication and emergency management, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

Laura Solito, Letizia Materassi, in "SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE " 61/2021, pp. 52-70, DOI:10.3280/SC2021-061005

   

FrancoAngeli is a member of Publishers International Linking Association a not for profit orgasnization wich runs the CrossRef service, enabing links to and from online scholarly content