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Buzzetta, Autumn; Buisker, Lauren L.; Williams, Elizabeth A.; Whittenburg, Cari
doi: 10.1080/10510974.2024.2382623pmid: N/A
Nonprofit organizations faced a high demand for their services during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet they experienced unique constraints due to their distinct financial model amidst a global economic crisis. Given the extraordinary circumstances that nonprofits confronted during the pandemic, the purpose of this study is to understand nonprofit workers’ experiences navigating COVID-19, how they coped with COVID-related constraints, how they generated agency amidst restrictions, and built resilience. Through 25 semi-structured interviews with workers employed in a variety of nonprofit sectors, our findings indicate that despite numerous COVID-19 constraints, nonprofit workers used communicative resilience to generate new rules and resources within their organization and cope with volatile pandemic challenges. While this enactment of resilience provided for positive experiences during the pandemic, the new structures may not be sustainable long-term for the organization. In addition, we offer theoretical implications surrounding communicative resilience as a mechanism for rewriting organizational rules and practical implications for nonprofits as they confront future crises.
Comello, Maria Leonora; Jain, Parul; Francis, Diane B.; Porter, Jeannette; Lake, Shelby; Thompson, Jacob; Gray, Jasmine
doi: 10.1080/10510974.2024.2390725pmid: N/A
In this conceptual piece, we argue that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) workplace programming should be viewed not just as a workplace-management issue but as a health issue that requires the attention of communication scholars. Abundant research has shown that unequal environments lead to substantial negative health impacts, and that these inequities can widen during times of crisis. While this awareness has permeated health-related research and practice for some time, the translation of this awareness into the workplace context has not been adequate, and there is relatively little evidence on “what works” to guide DEI efforts at workplaces and institutions. Coupled with increased demand for programming within organizations in response to social unrest, there is a critical need to develop and implement effective programs. As communication scholars who have also led DEI efforts in our workplaces, we aim to fill this gap by identifying shared frameworks, by highlighting research conducted in communication and other fields that have application to DEI workplace efforts, and by calling for action in terms of research and other academic practices.
doi: 10.1080/10510974.2024.2369475pmid: N/A
In the landmark year of 2022, climate activists staged 38 heritage performances in museums and galleries worldwide to raise awareness about the pressing threats of global warming and climate crises. This article explores the advantages that heritage offers to climate activists for conveying their message and analyzes their performances within the framework of heritage. Having redefined art vandalism and suggested new terminology, the research examines all recorded incidents in 2022, with a detailed case study of the “Letzte Generation” group in Germany, who chose the Barberini Museum to throw mashed potatoes on Monet’s Meules. The group’s performance is analyzed through Professor Laurajane Smith’s concept of “heritage as performance,” demonstrating different layers of metaphorical, social, and emotional meaning.
Ewing, Lee-Ann; Cooper, Holly B.
doi: 10.1080/10510974.2024.2377477pmid: N/A
In early 2020, UNESCO acknowledged that the scale of educational disruption associated with COVID-19 was unparalleled. Schools were forced to react swiftly. However, while remote learning has received considerable attention, less is understood of how educational leaders communicated during the COVID crisis. The study of school leaders’ initial crisis communications in response to government-mandated school closures is thus warranted. Accordingly, this study analyses a cross-section of seventeen Australian schools for the period late February through early April 2020 (i.e. term 1), with a focus on the emergency stage of schools’ crisis response, rather than the later remote learning continuity planning phase. A mixed-method research approach was adopted. Phase one involved quantitative content analysis of e-mail frequency, words per-sentence, readability (as measured by Flesch), and grade-level communication pitched at (as measured by Flesch-Kinkaid). Surprisingly, parents required university education to effectively comprehend the e-mails. Phase two confirmed that schools performed well in the first four of Smith & Riley’s (2012) five-step school crisis response model (getting the facts, implementing contingency plans, being decisive, showing concern), but were less effective at facilitating two-way communication. An additional (sixth) insight emerged in the form of school community.
Foulds, Kim; Solomon, Senait; Cameron, Scott; Casas, Carolina; Cohen, David; Wright, Tara; Kohn, Shanna; Tomchinsky, Julia
doi: 10.1080/10510974.2024.2339565pmid: N/A
Evidence firmly establishes the link between early childhood interventions and the mitigation of the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Given the long-term effects of conflict and displacement on children’s healthy development, educational mass media can offer critical learning opportunities to mitigate both the impact of learning disruption and the effects of ACEs. This paper will highlight three different ways media, and its diverse distribution platforms, can support young children’s understanding and use of coping strategies in the face of significant adversity. Using examples of diverse distribution to reach refugee and migrant children in the United States and across Latin America and the Middle East, this paper will highlight the ways media can support children and families affected by displacement and conflict to develop critical coping strategies. Lessons learned in developing and adapting coping strategies for diverse contexts and platforms include learnings for content curation and implementation, engagement of local and regional advisors, and importance of a network of on-the-ground implementing partners. These findings offer guidance for those developing content and programs for children in conflict and crisis, in particular creators of children’s media and outreach programs.
Haverfield, Marie C.; Estlein, Roi; Titova, Daria; deSouza, Darcey; Carrillo, Yesenia; Willis, Brooklyn; Maciel, Sabrina
doi: 10.1080/10510974.2024.2385779pmid: N/A
Family rituals may serve as a buffer against stressful situations, particularly non-normative stressors like the COVID-19 pandemic, by facilitating closeness and a sense of togetherness. However, research also suggests that rituals can be a source of added tension, stress, and conflict. The goals of this research were two-fold. We explored the ways families engaged in rituals during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place mandates, in both the United States and Israel, and examined the perceived impact of engagement on the ability to cope. Using survey data from 337 United States and 116 Israeli participants, we conducted a thematic analysis of rituals before (maintained) and during shelter-in-place (developed) followed by hierarchical linear regressions to examine associations between ritual connectedness, perceptions of rituals, and psychological well-being. Results revealed similarities and differences between the countries in the family rituals developed and maintained during shelter-in-place and significant associations between ritual connectedness and perceptions of rituals on psychological well-being. Findings provide a resource for family ritual strategies and extend our understanding of how family ritual engagement may foster or hinder families’ ability to cope during periods of unexpected stress.
Koselioren, Mihrali; Cakir, Cihan
doi: 10.1080/10510974.2024.2328880pmid: N/A
Türkiye is a region prone to earthquakes, and its fault structures generate destructive earthquakes on a regular basis. In this sense, a second devastating earthquake occurred in February 2023, and a great deal of information and news about it was distributed, particularly on social media. In cases of natural disasters such as earthquakes, this study examines the effect of intense and negative news flow on news avoidance as a consequence of people’s search for information about the event on social media. In this regard, a survey was conducted with the participation of 398 social media users in Istanbul, the most populous and earthquake-prone city in Türkiye, during the months of March and April. As a result of the study, it has been determined that there is a direct effect between information seeking on social media and news avoidance, whereas there is an indirect mediation effect between doomscrolling, news overload, and news fatigue. In addition, as the age and educational level of the participants increase, while being affected by doomscrolling, news overload, news fatigue, and news avoidance variables decrease, there is no significant difference in the category of information seeking on social media.
doi: 10.1080/10510974.2024.2335592pmid: N/A
The present article weaves an interdisciplinary perspective into the discussion of global crises. After a brief focus on theoretical underpinnings, it argues that owing to their inherently improvisational and performative constitutions, crises can enable learning and stimulate social change. Concretely, by creating participatory theater workshops, together with individuals in migration, the initially destabilizing performative space is transformed in a common ground for collective action, thereby opening opportunities for learning and reinvention of meanings. It is through the analysis of these processes that the article offers a critical and creative commentary on the constructive role of communication for crises. Ultimately, it demonstrates that verbal misunderstandings serve as catalysts for unconventional and creative ways of expression. In turn, they promote alternative reflections and negotiations, whereby also serving as suitable response tools to employ during crises and following disruptions.
doi: 10.1080/10510974.2024.2390270pmid: N/A
Changes in society and how others view us often have an impact on our own identity. For some people, societal changes may prompt reflection and sense-making. With the global health pandemic COVID-19, many changes evolved in mandates and restrictions to mitigate the pandemic. One of these mitigation efforts involved the use of face masks. For some people, wearing masks is medically challenging. This study seeks to understand the lived experiences of those who cannot wear masks and find out how they coped with the situations in which they found themselves during the COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions. The experiences of people with medical difficulty wearing face masks led to strained relationships with family and society, impacting their identity. Using the photo-elicitation interview method, a qualitative study obtained ten interviews that showed experiences connected to current literature on ostracism, invisible disability, and the communication theory of identity.
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