Government communication and Internet responses: profile of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš in selected digital media users’ comments during the COVID-19 pandemic

Vineta Kleinberga

doi:10.17770/etr2021vol2.6571

Government communication and Internet responses: profile of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš in selected digital media users’ comments during the COVID-19 pandemic

Vineta Kleinberga (Corresponding Author)

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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Abstract

Perceptions play a pivotal role in assessment of
efficiency of government communication. Informed by the
strategic narrative conceptual framework this study looks at
perception of government communication in Internet
comments during three essential dates in conquering the
COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia: introduction of emergency
situations on March 12 and November 6, 2020, and
introduction of a curfew on December 29, 2020. The study
uncovers how often and how the main spokesperson in
government communication – the Prime Minister of Latvia
Krišjānis Kariņš – is framed in comments of three online
news media in Latvia (Apollo, Delfi, Tvnet) in Latvian and
Russian. Using a digital tool for online comments analysis -
the Index of Internet Aggressiveness (IIA), a data set is
created of 244 comments, containing a key word “Kariņš” in
various cases in Latvian and Russian. Qualitative content
analysis is applied to extract and to compare the frequency
of appearance and the framing of Kariņš over the course of
the pandemic in Latvia. The findings reveal that Kariņš
appears in comments significantly more after news in
Latvian than in Russian, and has been commented five times
more in Delfi than in Tvnet and Apollo together. The
comments in Latvian are more aggressive than in Russian,
and their emotional tone increases towards the end of 2020.
In majority of comments the framing is negative involving
attributes of irresponsibility, superficiality, indecisiveness
and danger; yet positively framed rigidity and decisiveness of
Kariņš can be observed too.
IIA is an online comment analysis tool, incorporating a
machine learning program, which analyses users’ comments
on news on online news sites according to pre-selected
keywords to grasp the commenters’ verbal aggressiveness. In
March 2021 the IIA data set consists of ~25.08 million
comments; ~ 616.62 million word usage in written
commenting and ~ 1357.40 thousand news.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Vide. Tehnoloģija. Resursi : 13. starptautiskās zinātniski praktiskās konferences materiāli
Subtitle of host publication	Environment. Technology. Resources : proceedings of the 13th International Scientific and Practical Conference
Place of Publication	Rēzekne
Publisher	Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmija
Pages	78-83
Volume	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.17770/etr2021vol2.6571
Publication status	Published - 17 Jun 2021
Event	13th International Scientific and Practical Conference "Environment. Technology. Resources" - Online, Rezekne, Latvia Duration: 17 Jun 2021 → 18 Jun 2021 Conference number: 13 https://dom.lndb.lv/data/obj/936725.html

Publication series

Name	Vide. Tehnologija. Resursi - Environment, Technology, Resources
ISSN (Print)	1691-5402

Conference

Conference	13th International Scientific and Practical Conference "Environment. Technology. Resources"
Country/Territory	Latvia
City	Rezekne
Period	17/06/21 → 18/06/21
Other	XIII Starptautiskā zinātniski praktiskā konference "Vide. Tehnoloģija. Resursi"
Internet address	https://dom.lndb.lv/data/obj/936725.html

Keywords*

COVID-19
audience perception
internet comments
Kariņš
Latvia

Field of Science*

5.6 Political science
5.8 Media and Communication

Publication Type*

3.1. Articles or chapters in proceedings/scientific books indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

Access to Document

10.17770/etr2021vol2.6571Licence: CC BY

Government communication and Internet responsesFinal published version, 244 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Kleinberga, V. (2021). Government communication and Internet responses: profile of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš in selected digital media users’ comments during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Vide. Tehnoloģija. Resursi : 13. starptautiskās zinātniski praktiskās konferences materiāli: Environment. Technology. Resources : proceedings of the 13th International Scientific and Practical Conference (Vol. 2, pp. 78-83). (Vide. Tehnologija. Resursi - Environment, Technology, Resources). Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmija. https://doi.org/10.17770/etr2021vol2.6571

Kleinberga, Vineta. / Government communication and Internet responses: profile of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš in selected digital media users’ comments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vide. Tehnoloģija. Resursi : 13. starptautiskās zinātniski praktiskās konferences materiāli: Environment. Technology. Resources : proceedings of the 13th International Scientific and Practical Conference. Vol. 2 Rēzekne : Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmija, 2021. pp. 78-83 (Vide. Tehnologija. Resursi - Environment, Technology, Resources).

@inproceedings{c85218141f444a4b84393b76eff3d4fd,

title = "Government communication and Internet responses: profile of Prime Minister Kri{\v s}jānis Kariņ{\v s} in selected digital media users{\textquoteright} comments during the COVID-19 pandemic",

abstract = "Perceptions play a pivotal role in assessment ofefficiency of government communication. Informed by thestrategic narrative conceptual framework this study looks atperception of government communication in Internetcomments during three essential dates in conquering theCOVID-19 pandemic in Latvia: introduction of emergencysituations on March 12 and November 6, 2020, andintroduction of a curfew on December 29, 2020. The studyuncovers how often and how the main spokesperson ingovernment communication – the Prime Minister of LatviaKri{\v s}jānis Kariņ{\v s} – is framed in comments of three onlinenews media in Latvia (Apollo, Delfi, Tvnet) in Latvian andRussian. Using a digital tool for online comments analysis -the Index of Internet Aggressiveness (IIA), a data set iscreated of 244 comments, containing a key word “Kariņ{\v s}” invarious cases in Latvian and Russian. Qualitative contentanalysis is applied to extract and to compare the frequencyof appearance and the framing of Kariņ{\v s} over the course ofthe pandemic in Latvia. The findings reveal that Kariņ{\v s}appears in comments significantly more after news inLatvian than in Russian, and has been commented five timesmore in Delfi than in Tvnet and Apollo together. Thecomments in Latvian are more aggressive than in Russian,and their emotional tone increases towards the end of 2020.In majority of comments the framing is negative involvingattributes of irresponsibility, superficiality, indecisivenessand danger; yet positively framed rigidity and decisiveness ofKariņ{\v s} can be observed too.IIA is an online comment analysis tool, incorporating amachine learning program, which analyses users{\textquoteright} commentson news on online news sites according to pre-selectedkeywords to grasp the commenters{\textquoteright} verbal aggressiveness. InMarch 2021 the IIA data set consists of ~25.08 millioncomments; ~ 616.62 million word usage in writtencommenting and ~ 1357.40 thousand news.",

keywords = "COVID-19, audience perception, internet comments, Kariņ{\v s}, Latvia",

author = "Vineta Kleinberga",

note = "Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science, Republic of Latvia, as part of the project “Life with COVID-19: Evaluation of overcoming the coronavirus crisis in Latvia and recommendations for societal resilience in the future” [grant number VPP-COVID-2020/1-0013]. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Vineta Kleinberga. Published by Rezekne Academy of Technologies.; 13th International Scientific and Practical Conference {"}Environment. Technology. Resources{"} ; Conference date: 17-06-2021 Through 18-06-2021",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.17770/etr2021vol2.6571",

language = "English",

volume = "2",

series = "Vide. Tehnologija. Resursi - Environment, Technology, Resources",

publisher = "Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmija",

pages = "78--83",

booktitle = "Vide. Tehnoloģija. Resursi : 13. starptautiskās zinātniski praktiskās konferences materiāli",

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Kleinberga, V 2021, Government communication and Internet responses: profile of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš in selected digital media users’ comments during the COVID-19 pandemic. in Vide. Tehnoloģija. Resursi : 13. starptautiskās zinātniski praktiskās konferences materiāli: Environment. Technology. Resources : proceedings of the 13th International Scientific and Practical Conference. vol. 2, Vide. Tehnologija. Resursi - Environment, Technology, Resources, Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmija, Rēzekne, pp. 78-83, 13th International Scientific and Practical Conference "Environment. Technology. Resources", Rezekne, Latvia, 17/06/21. https://doi.org/10.17770/etr2021vol2.6571

Government communication and Internet responses: profile of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš in selected digital media users’ comments during the COVID-19 pandemic. / Kleinberga, Vineta (Corresponding Author).
Vide. Tehnoloģija. Resursi : 13. starptautiskās zinātniski praktiskās konferences materiāli: Environment. Technology. Resources : proceedings of the 13th International Scientific and Practical Conference. Vol. 2 Rēzekne: Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmija, 2021. p. 78-83 (Vide. Tehnologija. Resursi - Environment, Technology, Resources).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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AB - Perceptions play a pivotal role in assessment ofefficiency of government communication. Informed by thestrategic narrative conceptual framework this study looks atperception of government communication in Internetcomments during three essential dates in conquering theCOVID-19 pandemic in Latvia: introduction of emergencysituations on March 12 and November 6, 2020, andintroduction of a curfew on December 29, 2020. The studyuncovers how often and how the main spokesperson ingovernment communication – the Prime Minister of LatviaKrišjānis Kariņš – is framed in comments of three onlinenews media in Latvia (Apollo, Delfi, Tvnet) in Latvian andRussian. Using a digital tool for online comments analysis -the Index of Internet Aggressiveness (IIA), a data set iscreated of 244 comments, containing a key word “Kariņš” invarious cases in Latvian and Russian. Qualitative contentanalysis is applied to extract and to compare the frequencyof appearance and the framing of Kariņš over the course ofthe pandemic in Latvia. The findings reveal that Kariņšappears in comments significantly more after news inLatvian than in Russian, and has been commented five timesmore in Delfi than in Tvnet and Apollo together. Thecomments in Latvian are more aggressive than in Russian,and their emotional tone increases towards the end of 2020.In majority of comments the framing is negative involvingattributes of irresponsibility, superficiality, indecisivenessand danger; yet positively framed rigidity and decisiveness ofKariņš can be observed too.IIA is an online comment analysis tool, incorporating amachine learning program, which analyses users’ commentson news on online news sites according to pre-selectedkeywords to grasp the commenters’ verbal aggressiveness. InMarch 2021 the IIA data set consists of ~25.08 millioncomments; ~ 616.62 million word usage in writtencommenting and ~ 1357.40 thousand news.

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BT - Vide. Tehnoloģija. Resursi : 13. starptautiskās zinātniski praktiskās konferences materiāli

PB - Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmija

CY - Rēzekne

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Kleinberga V. Government communication and Internet responses: profile of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš in selected digital media users’ comments during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Vide. Tehnoloģija. Resursi : 13. starptautiskās zinātniski praktiskās konferences materiāli: Environment. Technology. Resources : proceedings of the 13th International Scientific and Practical Conference. Vol. 2. Rēzekne: Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmija. 2021. p. 78-83. (Vide. Tehnologija. Resursi - Environment, Technology, Resources). doi: 10.17770/etr2021vol2.6571

Government communication and Internet responses: profile of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš in selected digital media users’ comments during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords*

Field of Science*

Publication Type*

Access to Document

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