Image Restoration Theory: Analysis of Polish Deputy Prime Minister’s Tweets in Response to Postponed Polish Presidential Election In 2020 (Published)
Following Covid-19 pandemic emergence in 2020, Polish presidential election was about to be either postponed and rescheduled to the latter date or organized remotely via postal voting. At that time, the Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and Minister for State Assets, Jacek Sasin, has famously decided to allocate 70 mln PLN in order to move forward with organizing the election on the initial date of 10th of May 2020, which in the end, did not take place. The incident was widely covered across the Polish press, social media and news. Minister Jacek Sasin has become the subject of public outcry, online mockery, critical comments from the opposition politicians, derogatory press coverage, however has retained his political functions. The study objective is to analyse the image repair strategies that Minister Sasin has adapted in his tweets, and to assess the effectiveness of these strategies. The study revealed that Minister Sasin has used the following image repair strategies: evasion of responsibility, reducing offensiveness and denial. The effectiveness of employed strategies were assessed as unsuccessful. More research is needed towards assessing image repair strategies on the Polish political scene.
Keywords: Crisis, Reputation, Twitter, image repair theory
The Monkey Pox Virus and the Inherent Danger in Rumour Mongering: Focus On Nigeria Print Media Reportage of the Crisis (Published)
The prerogative of this exercise is the reportage of the monkey box virus by Nigerian print media. In spite of the horrendous deaths and turbulence imposed on Nigerians by the dreaded Ebola plague in the later part of 2014, Nigerians now face another grim pestilence; the monkey pox virus. This study is adopting the qualitative approach and secondary sources of newspaper publications as relevant literature. This inquiry derives its theoretical foundation from the agenda setting perspective. In spite of alarming rumours of forced vaccinations on school children, the study through relevant newspaper publications reveals the Nigerian print media, transcending through ethnic, religious and cultural barriers, conducted a high degree of coverage to create public awareness of the virus. The paper recommends synergy between the government and the media to create public awareness against the dread of monkey pox. This is appropriate antidote to galvanise standardized template in creating public awareness of communicable diseases. As sensitization by the Nigerian media was crucial in the demise of the 2014 Ebola crisis, the media, particularly newspapers have excelled in creating overwhelming public awareness and sanitation procedure to contain the monkey pox virus incursion into the Nigeria.
Keywords: Crisis, Monkey Pox Disease, Print Media, Public health communication, Reportage, rumour mongers