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According to data from the media research and monitoring company Mediaskopas, in the two months since the start of the Government’s work on December 11 last year, when various media reported on COVID-19, Minister A. Dulkys it was mentioned more frequently 3,457 times.
A little less often – 3,278 times – Prime Minister I.Šimonytė, 2,061 times – President G.Nausėda.
Members of the previous government also communicated
Other politicians received less media attention: Former Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga was mentioned 649 times in the context of COVID-19, the president of the ruling Lithuanian National Union-Christian Democrats, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis – 595 times , former Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis: 568 times.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Aurelijus Veryga
Simonas Krėpšta, chief advisor to the president on economic and social affairs, was appointed 454 times, Viktor Uspaskich, chairman of the Opposition Labor Party, 450 times, Antanas Matulas, chairman of the Seimas Health Affairs Committee, 408 times, and Aistė Šuksta, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health.
The media also paid attention to speeches by Seimas spokesperson Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Lithuanian Opposition Green and Peasant Union spokesperson Ramūnas Karbauskis and Deputy Health Minister Živilė Simonaitytė on the issue of COVID-19.
They have been mentioned 398, 251 and 210 times in publications and television, respectively.
It remains one of the main themes
Specialists communicating on COVID-19 issues also received media attention for two months: Vytautas Kasiulevičius, Vice Dean of the Vilnius University Medical Faculty, who was advised to the Government and the Presidency on 268 occasions, and Saulius Čaplinskas, Director of the Center for Communicable Diseases and AIDS, 235 times.
According to Aidas Petrošius, Mediaskopas Development Manager, COVID-19 continues to be one of the main topics discussed in the Lithuanian media.
“For example, in January there were up to 34,009 reports of coronavirus. This represented 27.3 percent. Total fixed media traffic”, 15 minutes commented.
In Latvia, however, the subject is even more ethereal.
Lithuania, which has always led the way in terms of number of mentions, was overtaken by Latvia.
“Lithuania, which has always led the way in terms of number of mentions, was overtaken by Latvia.
Last week, information related to coronavir in Latvia accounted for 42.4 percent. of the total flow of media in Latvia, and in Lithuania it was almost 10%. lower, ”said a company representative.
During the first quarantine, politicians have more air
Lithuania communicated more actively about COVID-19 during the first quarantine.
“It is still far from the level reached during the first quarantine, then 45-50% of the information related to the coronavirus was recorded.” media traffic and amounted to 57-60 thousand. messages per month, so the information flow was almost 70 percent. bigger, “said A. Petrošius.
The same trend is repeated in the frequency with which the media mention members of the incoming and outgoing governments.
Žygimantas Gedvila / 15min photo / Ingrida Šimonytė
“For example, in the first two months of his leadership, Prime Minister I. Šimonytė was mentioned in 3,278 reports, and then-Prime Minister S. Skvernelis mentioned 4,770 reports in the first two months after the announcement of the first quarantine.
Health Minister A. Dulkys was mentioned in 3,457 reports in the period from December 11, 2020 to February 11 of this year, and his predecessor A. Veryga was mentioned three more times in the first two months after the announcement of the first quarantine – in 10,894 reports “, – compared A.Petrosius.
A.Veryga mentioned three more times in the first two months after the announcement of the first quarantine.
G.Nausėda drew attention
In his opinion, when comparing the first and the second quarantine, President G. Nausėda and his team gave a very significant boost in communication.
The voice of the head of the country became more audible when he spoke of vaccines.
“Last spring and summer, the head of state communicated quite a bit, and many of his mentions in the media began or ended with the question of where is the president and his leadership?
After taking the oath of the government of I. Šimonytė, the presidency was notably shaken: G. Nausėda herself speaks much more about the pandemic, her adviser S. Krrššta speaks more.
Analyzing the statements of Casa Simonas Daukantas, we note that the communication of the head of the country seeks to link his name as far as possible with the issue of vaccines so awaited by society.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Gitanas Nausėda
G. Nausėda has a stronger and more detailed opinion about coronavirus vaccines than about the doctors and medical institutions fighting the pandemic, whose issues dominated most of last year, ”said A. Petrošius.
The role of V. Uspaskich
During the first quarantine, not only most politicians, but also experts who spoke out on the subject were more likely to be the center of media attention.
“Overall, the increased amount of information and media interest during the first quarantine led not only to increased mention by key government officials, but also by experts: Vytautas Kasiulevičius and Saulius Čaplinskas were viewed twice as often.” said A. Petrošius.
“We also have new faces in the TOP – V. Uspaskich, who was almost invisible during the first quarantine and has become famous in recent months for his controversial ‘inventions’, has risen solidly,” he added, apparently taking V. Uspaskich’s calls to buy water, which supposedly protects against COVID-19.
A. Lašas, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts at Kaunas University of Technology, compared how different authorities communicated about COVID-19 before and after the Seimas elections.
Photo by Vidmantas Balkūnas / 15 min photo / Ainius Lašas
According to him, the government of S. Skvernel, trying not to damage the image, avoided admitting mistakes before the elections, shook off criticism.
However, the new government has said that there is no such need to “restore reality.”
One way before the election, another after
Pre-election communication is always more positive, it emphasizes that “we decide, we fix everything, there are no problems”, there is more denial of any criticism.
And the post-election communication of the current government, above all, puts more emphasis on the work not done by the previous government, hidden figures or poor quality analysis, uncontrolled situation.
It seems to me that communication is now more realistic, more open, ”Lašas said, noting that he did not notice any lack of information about COVID-19.
It seems to me that communication is more realistic, more open now.
On the other hand, the communication of the former government on COVID-19 was, in his opinion, more focused.
Promised to do the opposite
I.Šimonytė herself spoke about the desire to communicate differently from the previous government.
He said that depending on the specific topic, information on COVID-19 would be provided by all members of the cabinet, not just the chief of operations.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Arūnas Dulkys
“Communication on the management of the situation should not be like in the previous legislature, when the Minister of Health, as head of operations, commented for long hours on all issues.
We need to find a very clear way to communicate when each institution knows best [savo sritį]. Aušrinė Armonaitė – on business support, Monika Navickienė – on downtime grants, Jurgita Šiugždinienė – on the field of education, etc. Only so that the information is provided by the people who manage that information and are responsible for it.
And the operations manager would do what he really has to do to manage the operation in the health field, ”said the Prime Minister during one of the government meetings.
Leads to confusion
A. Lašas criticized the following strategy: that when there are many votes, it is not clear which one to follow:
“It was the fact that Health Minister A. Veryga was one of the main people who communicated about the crisis and its management that allowed us to focus the message.
Now there is the impression that there is more cacophony: the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, the Minister of the Interior are speaking. However, the president is now very active in talking about the crisis and its management.
In a word, there are many voices and it is sometimes difficult to understand which one more or less needs to be heard here. “
There is more cacophony.
When asked if the current Minister of Health should act like Veryga and hold comprehensive press conferences on the management of COVID-19 on a weekly or even more frequent basis, Laas said it would be helpful if the information provided during the conferences were adequate.
More is better
“More communication in that context is basically good and better because there is a lot of uncertainty, anxiety, misunderstandings.
Another question is what is that communication. If it is explained that everything is well managed and there are no problems, but it is obvious that there are or are caused, it is not an adequate communication ”, he assured.
Luke April / 15min photo / Aurelijus Veryga
However, according to A.Lašas, the current government could better explain how releases from the quarantine regime are related to the vaccination of the population.
“It just came to our attention then. These are, let’s say, releases. Those releases are not always justified by the vaccine strategy,” he said.
The study of COVID-19 communication was carried out by Mediaskopas, which summarized information from more than 850 sources, including articles from the national and regional press, Internet portals and news agencies, radio and television press releases, and news reports.
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