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AbstractMeaning making by leadership in a crisis is required to reduce uncertainty. We used analytic criteria for meaning making suggested by crisis management literature to investigate public leaders' quotations in news coverage of a health crisis. The quotations were examined in terms of the five frame functions, which include offering a credible explanation of what happened, offering guidance, instilling hope, showing empathy, and suggesting that leaders are in control. The Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in South Korea was examined. As a result, the most salient frame function identified was displaying they are in control of the emergency, followed by offering guidance and explaining what happened. The salience of leaders' meaning making disappeared in coverage by a liberal newspaper.

Integrative complexity, a measure of cognitive information processing, has in past studies shown reliable changes associated with international crises: sustained relatively high levels in the communications of leaders prior to a peaceful resolution, unilateral decreases on the part of a nation's leaders prior to its launching a surprise attack, & bilateral decreases before the outbreak of an escalation spiral war. The current study measured integrative complexity levels before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack in the US & during the ensuing 1.5 years of the coalition counterattack in Afghanistan. Complexity measures of the communications of leaders of four major Western nations (the US, the UK, France, & Germany), NATO, the Taliban, & al Qaeda indicated some novel features associated with the specific characteristics of individual leaders & their nation or organization. In general, however, the pattern of complexity changes was highly similar to those found in previous wars. 3 Tables, 7 Figures, 12 References. Adapted from the source document.