Communication in Times of Crisis. The Case of Kerala's Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Academic Paper from the year 2020 in the subject Communications - Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing, Social Media, grade: A, course: Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Media and Entertainment), language: English, abstract: This research focuses on the process of communication between the state government and the citizens during a crisis situation and the formulation of an effective response strategy when faced with a significant threat to health or safety. My specific research interests are 1) the nature of decision - making processes that influence the perception of the audience towards the government, and 2) how the government body makes sense of an ambiguous and unpredictable situation, in order to build credibility with the audience and influence their behavior. This is a qualitative research focusing on Kerala government's response to the SARS Covid-19 pandemic crisis in India from the months of January till May. A global public health crisis has the potential to critically harm the nation's economy and thus, requires strategic planning to deal with the crisis. However, even though faced with H1N1 influenza pandemic and Nipah Virus epidemic in the past decade, the country still struggles with developing effective response strategy and contingency plans when faced with an unexpected, highly unpredictable public health crisis. My research understands the process between the development of a crisis response strategy and its implementation. Additionally, it also addresses the positive/negative perception created in the minds of the public through media.