Purpose
Politicians' response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic worldwide
relied on war scenarios having a tradition in disease management. The study contrasts
how the political measures introduced during the state of emergency were presented
by the Prime Minister of Hungary in his social media posts and his speeches and announcements
broadcast by public media.
Design/methodology/approach
A computer-assisted content analysis was conducted to extract data on war and military
metaphors, followed by a qualitative analysis of the metaphor scenarios used for explaining
the situation and justifying action. The role of the prime minister (PM) indicated
by the social media posts and by his transcripted speeches was compared with the suggestion
of the visual illustrations.
Findings
The study’s findings were that verbal communication shifted between war-related metaphoric
to military-related realistic. The third conceptual domain identified was fear. Messages
were mostly about national cohesion, however, visually, the PM was the protagonist
of the events. The communication proved efficient according to opinion polls.
Originality/value
The research revealed how the securitization of the pandemic took place via the political
discourse constructed both for Internet users and traditional media consumers. Metaphors
of fear, war and military action created the justification of the declaration of a
state of emergency. The PM as a capable and responsible leader was placed in focus
of the events. Although verbal messages by the PM were centred on a sense of community
and joint action, the personalization of political action was remarkable by indirect
means, such as visual messages. The personalization of politics throughout the period
researched served the purpose of securitization of the pandemic with the PM as a charismatic
leader attracting attention and giving credit to the severity of the threat along
with the introduction of extraordinary measures.
