Comparing the Rhetorical characteristics of the Covid-19 related content in TV, News Agencies and Instagram

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Communication of Science and Technology. Faculty of Cultural Studies and Communication. Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies

10.22059/gmj.2023.354274.1286

Abstract

 Focusing on the message creation techniques, this article analyzes the rhetorical devices used for message production in four news agencies, news at 21 pm on channel one of  IRIB and Instagram texts during the first months of the spread of the Corona virus. Based on the literature review, research on the management of the production of content related to Covid-19 distributed by the media is important because audiences consume the content in both traditional and modern media and are affected by them. However, previous studies have not analyzed the types of information from the perspective of the rhetorical tools in crisis management.
The conceptual framework of the present paper is based on the importance of perception in crisis management and the three categories of Instructing, Adjusting and Internalizing information according to Sturges' theory. The effectiveness of crisis communication depends on the rhetorical and sequence of information presentation during the crisis. So, Instructing information should be provided firstly, then Adjusting information and finally, Internalizing information.
Techniques of content production are identified by using qualitative content analysis, identifying the rhetorical devices used in the texts, and the two concepts of schemes and tropes in Leigh's model. Accordingly, a number of 257 news items broadcasted on Iranian National TV, 17519 news items appeared in news agencies and 17 Instagram pages with more than 1000 followers have been analyzed.
The findings show that content production techniques can be separated from three perspectives:

a) Presentation format: Interview, film, conversation, animation, comic, vector, PowerPoint, and diagram are common formats.
b) Content production methods: comparison, explanation, naming, metaphor, emphasis, simplification, and sensitization.
c) Content production purpose: the common objectives are judgment, education, informing, hopefulness, panic.

In concluding:

The presentation format on Instagram has been more diverse than that of television and news agencies. Among the types of content, videos and especially videos that have humorous content and Islamic medicine, have been viewed more than others.
Confrontation with anti-science can be seen in news agencies and Instagram, but 21 pm TV broadcasts do not pay attention to this issue.
TV and news agencies have used tropes, but no scheme has been used on Instagram.
The effectiveness of the content influencing on the behavior change decreases in Instagram, news agency and television, respectively.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 26 October 2022
  • Revise Date: 17 February 2023
  • Accept Date: 08 March 2023

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