Communication in a Crisis: Framing the Pandemic in Press Releases of Public Health Institutions in Niš

Neda Necić

Abstract


The year 2020 was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the greatest threats to global health in modern history. The pandemic posed a serious challenge for crisis communication, requiring timely and clear information to citizens. At the local level, public health institutions play a key role in transmitting information and adapting national recommendations to the needs of the community. The subject of this research is the framing of the COVID-19 pandemic in the press releases of public health institutions in the city of Niš – the University Clinical Center, the Institute of Public Health and the Health Center. The research is based on two complementary approaches – on the framing theory, which is applied in public relations during crisis situations, and on the situational theory of crisis communication. The main objective of the empirical research was to determine the frames applied in the press releases of the aforementioned public health institutions, used with the intention of achieving their primary communication goal, which was the protection and preservation of public health. The results of the research showed that public health institutions in the territory of the city of Niš used framing models in their press releases.

Keywords


public relations; external communication; framing; crisis communication; COVID-19

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.51558/2490-3647.2026.11.1.1051

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