USE OF INFOGRAPHICS IN CRISIS COMMUNICATION: AN EXAMINATION ON INFOGRAPHICS IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC PROCESS

Year 2020, Volume: 19 Issue: 37 - Bahar (Covid19-Özel Ek), 240 - 261, 27.06.2020

Şaha Baygül Özpınar , Gülşah Aydın

Abstract

The current COVID - 19 disease is a crisis that affects people all over the world. The number of confirmed cases increased rapidly in March 2020, and the epidemic was placed in the pandemic category by the World Health Organization. Large crises such as a pandemic require major behavioral changes, imposing significant burdens on individuals. In this process all institutions, especially the health ministries of the countries, have important duties in order to reduce the negative effects of the pandemic, provide the public with the right information and guide individuals. The importance of communication tools that ensure the connection with the society in the fight against the pandemic is better understood day by day. Infographics offer great opportunities to the source and the receivers in matters requiring rapid understanding and rapid movement. Infographics, in which the information is transferred with graphics instead of long texts, allow the data to be easily understood at a glance, to establish relationships with individuals, to comprehend difficult concepts and to make the medical jargon understandable. In this study, the infographics prepared and distributed by the Ministry of Health in Turkey were examined in terms of visual design, composition and meaning and how they are used to combat the pandemic.

Keywords

Crisis Communication, Pandemic Communication, COVİD-19 Pandemic, Infographic

KRİZ İLETİŞİMİNDE İNFOGRAFİK KULLANIMI: COVİD-19 PANDEMİ SÜRECİNDE İNFOGRAFİKLER ÜZERİNE BİR İNCELEME

Abstract

Mevcut COVID‐19 salgını tüm dünyada insanları etkileyen küresel bir sağlık krizidir. 2020 yılının Mart ayında teyit edilmiş vaka sayısı hızla artmış, salgın Dünya Sağlık Örgütü tarafından pandemi kategorisine alınmıştır. Pandemi gibi büyük krizler büyük çaplı davranış değişiklikleri gerektirir, bireylere önemli yükler getirir. Bu süreçte pandeminin olumsuz etkilerini azaltmak, kamuoyunun doğru bilgilere ulaşmasını sağlamak ve bireylere yol göstermek üzere başta ülkelerin sağlık bakanlıkları olmak üzere tüm kurumlara önemli görevler düşmektedir. Pandemi ile mücadelede toplum ile bağ kurulmasını sağlayan iletişim araçlarının önemi her geçen gün daha iyi anlaşılmaktadır. İnfografikler hızlı kavrayış ve hızlı hareket gerektiren konularda kaynak ve alıcıya büyük imkânlar sunmaktadır. Bilgilerin uzun metinler yerine grafikler ile aktarıldığı infografikler verilerin bir bakışta kolayca anlaşılmasını, bireylerle ilişki kurmayı, zor kavramların daha kolay kavranmasını ve tıbbi jargonun anlaşılır hale gelmesini sağlar. Bu çalışmada Türkiye’de Sağlık Bakanlığı’nın hazırlayıp dağıttığı COVİD-19 temalı infografikler görsel tasarım, anlam ve yazında bulunan izleyici tercihleri varsayımlarına göre incelenmiş, pandemi ile mücadelede nasıl kullanıldıkları ortaya koyulmuştur.

Keywords

Kriz İletişimi, Pandemi İletişimi, COVİD-19 Pandemisi, İnfografik

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