What’s Gov Got to Do with it?: Pandemic crisis communication in a polarized environment

Official crisis communication on social media is critical to crisis response, as it provides the public with accurate and timely information regarding risks and advised protective actions during crises. A polarized environment can complicate effective crisis communication, as different officials may have different priorities in their communication, making it more challenging for the public to trust information pertaining to risks and protective actions on social media. In this work, we analyze the COVID-19 crisis communication leading up to the 2020 U.S. presidential / congressional election. We focus on what is prioritized in crisis communication by politicians and officials of government agencies — official sources most likely impacted by the polarized environment of contentious national elections. We find their consistency and discrepancy in the communication of primary and secondary risks, as well as corresponding protective actions. In addition, on most topics pertaining to risks and protective actions, the communication by officials of government agencies is predictive of that by politicians. This complicates prior findings that politicians can affect the implementation efficacy of bureaucracy, offering some hope for impartial bureaucracy even in a polarized environment.