Pandemic Communication in Times of Populism, Brazil, Poland, US, Serbia, 2020-2023

The study focuses on the role of journalists, public health officials, government communication officers, and political leaders in health crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The qualitative data set consists of qualitative interviews with key individuals involved in health crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic in the four countries, conducted between May and October 2022. The interviewees were recruited from four main groups (a) journalists who covered the pandemic, (b) public health officials and other public health professionals who played important roles in communication processes, (c) communication officers in government and other institutions involved in health crisis communication, and (d) political leaders. The number of interviewees ranged from 20 (Brazil) to 14 (US, Poland and Serbia). In general, gaining access to journalists and public health officials was easier than gaining access to government officials and politicians.

All interviews were semi-structured and followed the same basic protocol, which was adapted for different countries and different types of interviewees, reflecting the role played by each of them in the health crisis communication process. Most interviews were conducted remotely, audio-recorded and then transcribed. A small number of interviewees declined to be recorded, and one interviewee responded to questions in writing. All recorded interviews were conducted in local languages, transcribed and translated into English (with the exception of those conducted in Serbian, which remain in original language). During transcription, the interviews were anonymized, and the interviewees were assigned a unique number, preceded by country abbreviation.

All interviews were carried out following the relevant research ethics guidelines and procedures for protection of human subjects at participating universities; interviewees were offered anonymity and gave informed consent. Participants in Serbia, Poland and Brazil provided consent in written form (in accordance with protocols set out by Loughborough University, UK), while in the US, oral consent was recorded (in accordance with the ethics requirements of the University of California San Diego).

The quantitative dataset is based on a cross-sectional survey with nationally representative samples, conducted in the four countries between November and December 2022. The questionnaire was designed to explore the patterns of public attitudes and information-seeking behaviour in relation to the pandemic, with questions about attitudes towards measures, trust in institutions, media use, as well as COVID-related misinformation and conspiracy theories.
The data was collected by means of an online survey, carried out in all four countries between November and December 2022 by Lightspeed (Kantar). The survey included a total of 5,000 respondents (in Brazil, N= 1,500; in Poland, N= 1,000; in Serbia, N= 1,000; in the United States, N= 1,500), stratified by quotas according to sex, age, geographic regions, and income. Weights were not used as the data had a strong match with the census profiles.