Unite against COVID-19: Jacinda Ardern’s discursive approach to the pandemic

In comparison to many other countries across the world, New Zealand stands out as a positive example of successfully dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic during its first outbreak. A pivotal role in this has been attributed to Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, who has been praised for her effective communication throughout the crisis and her capacity to connect empathetically to the people (see McGuire et al 2020). This paper intends to explore the role of Ardern in leading the country through this challenging time by focusing on her discursive and rhetorical strategies. Adopting the frameworks of Critical Discourse Analysis and Rhetoric, the study investigates how she discursively engages the citizens in communal and cooperative efforts against the virus. The analysis will be conducted on press conferences given by Ardern from the beginning of the outbreak at the end of February to the day when she declared that community transmission was over (April 27, 2020). The data consists of 9 post-cabinet press conferences, which amounts to 56,118 words in total.