Visual Crisis Communication in the Scandinavian Press:: Images of the MS Estonia Disaster

Carmen Daniela Maier; Finn Frandsen; Winni Johansen

doi:10.2478/nor-2019-0035

Visual Crisis Communication in the Scandinavian Press: Images of the MS Estonia Disaster

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift/Konferencebidrag i tidsskrift /Bidrag til avis › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

6 Citationer (Scopus)

219 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This study marks a shift in research focus from verbal to visual aspects in crisis communication and contributes to the emerging field of visual crisis communication by exploring the use of images in the Scandinavian press when reporting on and/or commemorating a disaster. We used rhetorical arena theory (RAT) and a social semiotic approach to visual analysis to investigate how fifteen newspapers from Sweden, Norway and Denmark visualised the MS Estonia disaster ten, fifteen and twenty years after the sinking of the ship. We examined 93 images published on the anniversaries in 2004, 2009 and 2014 to determine what kinds of images accompanied the press reports and how these changed over time. The results demonstrate that the images, which changed considerably over time, represented the disaster both as an irreversible loss and as a process with a strong symbolic value.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Nordicom Review
Vol/bind	40
Nummer	2
Sider (fra-til)	91-109
Antal sider	19
ISSN	1403-1108
DOI	https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2019-0035
Status	Udgivet - 2019

Adgang til dokumentet

10.2478/nor-2019-0035Licens: CC BY-NC-ND

[20015119 - Nordicom Review] Visual Crisis Communication in the Scandinavian PressForlagets udgivne version, 5,98 MBLicens: CC BY-NC-ND

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Citationsformater

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abstract = "This study marks a shift in research focus from verbal to visual aspects in crisis communication and contributes to the emerging field of visual crisis communication by exploring the use of images in the Scandinavian press when reporting on and/or commemorating a disaster. We used rhetorical arena theory (RAT) and a social semiotic approach to visual analysis to investigate how fifteen newspapers from Sweden, Norway and Denmark visualised the MS Estonia disaster ten, fifteen and twenty years after the sinking of the ship. We examined 93 images published on the anniversaries in 2004, 2009 and 2014 to determine what kinds of images accompanied the press reports and how these changed over time. The results demonstrate that the images, which changed considerably over time, represented the disaster both as an irreversible loss and as a process with a strong symbolic value.",

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AU - Maier, Carmen Daniela

AU - Frandsen, Finn

AU - Johansen, Winni

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Y1 - 2019

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AB - This study marks a shift in research focus from verbal to visual aspects in crisis communication and contributes to the emerging field of visual crisis communication by exploring the use of images in the Scandinavian press when reporting on and/or commemorating a disaster. We used rhetorical arena theory (RAT) and a social semiotic approach to visual analysis to investigate how fifteen newspapers from Sweden, Norway and Denmark visualised the MS Estonia disaster ten, fifteen and twenty years after the sinking of the ship. We examined 93 images published on the anniversaries in 2004, 2009 and 2014 to determine what kinds of images accompanied the press reports and how these changed over time. The results demonstrate that the images, which changed considerably over time, represented the disaster both as an irreversible loss and as a process with a strong symbolic value.

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