Johanna Radechovsky presents typology of municipal crisis communication at DGPuK conference in Lucerne

The findings are based on the MIRKKOMM research project on official risk and crisis communication led by Martin Löffelholz and funded by the BMBF for three years.

In her presentation, Johanna Radechovsky, research associate in the project, also highlighted key challenges and lessons learned regarding government crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on qualitative interviews and a two-wave representative survey, she showed how municipalities in Germany evaluate their crisis communication, deal with contradictory information and which optimization strategies were used to address target groups and build resilience. Alongside Johanna Radechovsky and Martin Löffeholz, Kathrin Schleicher was also involved in the study.

Also represented at the conference were the research groups for Media Research and Political Communication by Sophia Schaller and Research in Public Relations and Communication of Technology by Francis Alpers, who presented further findings on health and crisis communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. The conference of the DGPuK Health Communication section took place from November 20 to 22, 2024 at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland.