Strategic Communication and the Global Pandemic: Leading through Unprecedented Times

ABSTRACT

This article serves as the introduction article of the special issue, titled Strategic Communication and the Global Pandemic. This special issue of the International Journal of Strategic Communication (IJSC) has one primary purpose – to stimulate serious scholarly research on strategic communication and its management and execution during challenging times, such as the COVID-19 global pandemic. To achieve this purpose, the special issue is organized into three sections covering many dimensions of strategic communication as it relates to the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first section includes research addressing how the messages are developed and constructed through governmental communication, traditional mass media, and social media. The second section focuses on exploring the contingencies that leaders and influencers at various levels need to address in this novel global crisis, as well as the practical, organizational, and societal challenges leaders face. The last section collects research reflecting on how effective public health responses and communication shall be developed. By providing a range of strategic communication scholarship grounded in different academic disciplines and cultural and political contexts, we believe this volume offers an international perspective for scholars and educators to understand the complexity of the topic itself.

Acknowledgments

Many people directly or indirectly contributed to the success of this special issue. First, we would like to thank all contributors/authors who dedicated their time to writing papers for this issue, as well as the wider group of international colleagues writing and researching in this important field who responded to the initial call. For a successful production, we would like to thank Usha Thangaraj and her production team at Taylor and Francis for their amazing work in putting this issue forward. Special thanks go to the ad hoc Editorial Review Board created for this special issue, as they dedicated their time to reviewing and providing constructive feedback and comments to help the authors revise and improve their research and writings. Just like the breadth and the depth of the research articles presented in this special issue, we are very fortunate to have a diverse group of acclaimed scholars around the world to offer their expertise in shaping the special issue.

Specifically, we would like to thank the following reviewers for their valuable contributions to the development of the special issue: Yi-Ru Regina Chen (Hong Kong Baptist University, China), Audra Diers-Lawson (Leeds Beckett University, UK), Jesper Falkheimer (Lund University, Sweden), Chun-Ju Flora Hung-Baesecke (University of Technology Sydney, Australia), Vilma Luoma-aho (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), Marlene S. Neill (Baylor University, USA), Cindy Sing Bik Ngai (Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China), Po-Lin Pan (Arkansas State University, USA), Katie R. Place (Quinnipiac University, USA), Bryan H. Reber (University of Georgia, USA), Stefania Romenti (IULM University, Italy), Ana Tkalac Verčič (University of Zagreb, Croatia), Sophia Charlotte Volk (University of Zurich, Switzerland), Yuan Wang (City University of Hong Kong, China), and Jie Xu (Villanova University, USA).

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we would like to thank Dr. Ansgar Zerfass and Dr. Kelly Page Werder for offering the opportunity to edit this special issue. Their unwavering support and leadership motivate us to achieve the next higher level in research rigor and continually foster the intellectual conversations around strategic communication both within and beyond the topic of COVID-19 pandemic.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).