The Importance of Sustainable Communication in the Covid-19 Period: The Case of Turkey

Abstract

In the present study, the crisis communication model adopted by the Ministry of Health, the manager of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, is analyzed based on chronological developments that were criticized and discussed during the beginning, emergence, and chronicity of the pandemic. The study argues that an effective crisis communication strategy, required during the COVID-19 pandemic, could not be adopted due to the communication problems across the social stakeholders in Turkey. This miscommunication stemmed from Ministry of Health’s flawed strategy and the value paradox due to the neglect of social reaction, demands, concerns, and requirements. Those responsible for the crisis management attempted to spread messages not only through conventional media but also through social media to achieve media diversity. However, these messages were not only repetitive and similar, but they aimed to influence rather than interact. Therefore, the value and credibility of these messages gradually decreased across the public that was significantly affected by the crisis. Furthermore, the Ministry of Health did not provide accurate, adequate, and timely information to the citizens, leading to the interruption of mutual and solidaristic communication between the ruler and the ruled. Turkish COVID-19 experience presented in the present study is a significant example that demonstrated how the provision of sustainable development goals—especially the elimination of poverty (SGD1) and hunger (SGD2), health and welfare (SGD3), and gender equality (SGD5)—could be interrupted and how the disruption of the communications during the crisis would complicate normalization for social stakeholders in the absence of an accurate and realistic communication strategy. For this purpose, the main outline of an effective crisis communication model is also presented in the study.

The present study benefited from the TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) project “Crisis Communication: Preventive Communication Approaches Based on the Lessons Learned During the Covid-19 Pandemic” (No: 120K634).