Crisis communication in audiovisual format: the information of Spain’s National Health System on YouTube in 2020

Abstract

Throughout 2020 it has been seen that the Covid-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented health crisis that has involved a major change at both level informative and media. Audiovisual content has increased considerably and there is interest on the part of health institutions to demonstrate their ability as a reliable and first-order source of information. In fact, since the declaration of the pandemic, in just 2 months the number of content disseminated throughout 2019 was exceeded. This study seeks to describe the response given to this health crisis by the Spanish National Health System on YouTube. For this purpose, we analyze the 1035 audiovisual content that the official channels published in 2020. To carry out the analysis, the contents have been classified into 7 types, from press conferences to tutorials, recommendations, informative pieces or testimonies; the topic covered in each of them has been identified, the format, as well as the number of views and user feedback.The period of greatest production corresponds to the first wave and the de-scalding wave, and the health institution that has disseminated the most messages has been the Ministry of Health: 603 vídeos, 170 animations and 263 hybrid pieces –combining real vídeo, text and icons– have been identified. Animations and hybrid pieces are the most successful messages, and are primarily used on an appealing nature to disseminate healthy recommendations and habits. This study values the use of animations as an appropriate information resource for education and health promotion. In addition, it has allowed us to identify the main weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities presented by audiovisual health information on YouTube.