It is time to thank every LanCris conference attendee and presenter. We had two days filled with vibrant discussion and relaxed atmosphere. Unfortunately, it seems that crises are not going to leave us alone. We'll keep studying the language that is used to discuss and construct them. 🧡 #lancris2026

Arrived at #lancris2026 and looking forward to two interesting days.

Frédérique Sandretto on US presidents invoking the founding fathers in their speeches during crises. Specific founding fathers, such as George Washington, are only rarely mentioned, while "our fathers" is used more often. The histories of specific founding fathers may be problematic. #lancris2026

Scientific historians influenced the public discourse and public understanding of the pandemic situation in 2020. They frequently appeared in media, offering context and historical analogies. Plenary by Heini Hakosalo, who herself was one of those historians in 2020. #lancris2026

The presentation by @rob-lawson.bsky.social et al. discussed perceptions of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic on UK Twitter using the TRAC:COVID interface. I like this function of plotting events on a frequency timeline (example word: nurses) traccovid.com/traccovid/da... #lancris2026

The second day of the LanCris Conference begins with Prof Merja Koskela's plenary on different theories on crisis communication from organizational perspective. Stora Enso's pearl mussle case is used as an example of how different rhetorical arenas open up when a crisis happens. #lancris2026

Beyond happy to be in Helsinki for the LanCrisis conference to share my reflections on the rethoric of crisis and polycrisis in Discourse over time.

Davide Marino on Apocalyptic rhetoric in papal discourse. In a sense, crisis is always ”apocalyptic”: either total destruction or survival. #lancris2026

Nevalainen and Nguyen on the Finnish Government’s ”racism crisis”. The National Coalition says racism is a problem in the Finnish society and should be solved. The Finns Party try to contest the definition of racism. Both agree that there is no racism in the government. #lancris2026

The LanCris conference has started! Our presentation tomorrow (with Terttu Nevalainen, Turo Vartiainen and Aatu Liimatta) deals with the acceleration of language change due to crises. blogs.helsinki.fi/languaging-c...

Sun-kissed start at @languaging-crises.bsky.social

It is the week of the LanCris Conference! We are very excited to hear about new research related to language and crises. #lancris2026 In addition to over 40 paper presentations, we will have four keynote speeches that look at languaging crises from four different perspectives:

We are very excited about our upcoming conference! The programme has now published on our website. We will have a vast array of talks ranging from environmental crises to pandemics and from global pandemics to more personal crises – and the role of language in these. #lancris2026

Different groups have different needs, meaning that public messaging needs to be curated to address those differing needs. How to do that efficiently when there is a global pandemic? Research is needed to understand better why different groups may view the same message differently.

New article just out in Discourse & Communication 👇

The LanCris conference is approaching! The abstracts of the plenaries can now be found on our website. We look forward to seeing you in Helsinki in March!

Interested in studying parliamentary language? Workshop at the Finnish Conference of Linguistics, University of Eastern Finland: "Video recordings and transcribed records of parliamentary debates as research data for linguistics and discourse and rhetorical studies" (Link in comments.) #ktp2026

Experts are corrupt idiots, and I know better. Part 2 of our short video series has been published!

Our short from video series begins! The first iteration is about our data: what data can be used to compare three vastly different time periods? See our blog or follow us on Instagram: (@languaging_crises)

I'm so excited about this conference! 🤩 We've already received many many interesting abstracts, examining language in various types of crises. If you are interested in participating, you still have two days to submit your abstract!

You still have about two weeks to submit your abstract to our upcoming conference in Helsinki in March, 2026. Deadline for abstract submission: 31st October, 2025. A warm welcome to discuss crises and language with us!

So, a right-wing Finnish thinktank just published a populist pamphlet that criticises the funding choices of the Research Council of Finland when they concern humanities and social sciences research, and calls for "useful" research only to be published and for us to 'thin the herd' ourselves 🧵

Call for Papers: Languaging Crises conference in Helsinki in March 2026! Organized by @languaging-crises.bsky.social @minneva.bsky.social , @hannalimatius.bsky.social, @jenniraikkonen.fi

Call for Papers for the Languaging Crises conference (4–5 March, 2026) is published! We warmly welcome you to Helsinki! Proposal submission deadline: 31 October, 2026 blogs.helsinki.fi/languaging-c...

A lecture by our collaborator Merja Koskela, a professor of Communication Studies at @univaasa.bsky.social, introduces some of the basics of crisis communication. What is a crisis? What is crisis communication? What academic approaches exist for studying crisis communication?

We are planning a conference on crisis communication to be held at the University of Helsinki in March 2026. Stay tuned if you are interested in attending! @helsinki.fi #crisiscommunication blogs.helsinki.fi/languaging-c...

Check out the poster that we presented at #CL2025 ! The poster introduces our two ongoing case studies, one focusing on constructions of ingroups and outgroups in comments posted on the CDC’s Instagram posts, the other on epistemicity in Boris Johnson and Donald Trump’s speeches on COVID-19.

Check it out - the corpus MOOC is back (15th September) on a new platform (edX) exploring new topics, including AI. One thing has not changed - it is still free to access 😁 Find out more here: www.edx.org/learn/social...

My latest article has been published in Discourse & Society! The paper explores how marginalised groups are referenced and included in COVID-19 statements published on official government websites in the UK and the US. @languaging-crises.bsky.social journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

The word is out! Next IPrA is in our (Finnish) neck of the woods, in Helsinki 🇫🇮 Pragmaticians, converge!

New paper out in the International Journal of Business Communication on corporate wrongdoing -- specifically how Boeing navigated the 737 Max crisis a few years ago. Check it out open access here: doi.org/10.1177/2329...

2/2 responsibility is potentially doing more harm than good… #ADDA25 Very interesting work by @languaging-crises.bsky.social!

We're already on talk #3 in the "Influencer Discourse" panel at #ADDA5! Hanna Limatius (from the @languaging-crises.bsky.social project) is showing us how beauty influencers and authorities collaborated during the Covid-19 pandemic and how this was received by their audiences.

#ADDA25 : @hannalimatius.bsky.social presented her analysis of comments posted on YouTube videos of two beauty influencers who collaborated with president Joe Biden to discuss COVID-19 vaccines. The goal of the videos was to reach an audience that does not necessarily follow the official channels.

In addition, @jenniraikkonen.fi will present her CADS study on the use of expert statements in American newspaper articles on the COVID-19 and 1918 influenza pandemics. What types of differences are there between a liberal broadsheet and a conservative tabloid? See you there! #CL2025

See you at #CL2025 in Birmingham! Our poster presentation introduces our two ongoing studies on COVID-19 communication: 1) citizens’ responses to authorities’ social media communication during COVID-19; and 2) expressions of epistemicity by Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.

During past months, I have been analyzing expert statements in newspaper articles about COVID-19 and the 1918 influenza. The process has been messy, as I have tried different methods of analysis. The following process has been quite fruitful, while quite messy. #CADS

Päättävässä asemassa olevat ovat avainroolissa yhteiskunnallisten kriisien keskellä. Heidän viestinsä vaikuttavat merkittävästi mielikuviimme tilanteesta. Miten kriisistä tulisi viestiä, jotta luottamus päättäjiin säilyy ja heidän koetaan olevan tilanteen tasalla? #kriisiviestintä

Insights from VAKKI symposium 2025: As previous and on-going crises have demonstrated, third sector and volunteers can have crucial roles in crisis management practices. But the ways and channels of collaboration need to be planned beforehand, as the crisis situation can be chaotic.

Whose voices were present in the crisis communication in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic? Paper by @hannalimatius.bsky.social and Merja Koskela has been published open access in the VAKKI publication series:

Today, a guest lecture by Prof Merja Koskela: "Rhetorics of crisis communication: From organizational to societal perspectives" at the Uni of Helsinki. Topics include the role of digital communication in crisis management and the power dynamics embedded within these communicative practices.

We will organize a workshop at the VAKKI symposium in Vaasa on February 13–14, 2025! We hope to get presenters from different fields interested in crisis communication. The description of the workshop is only in Finnish, but presentations in English are also welcome! sites.uwasa.fi/vakki/sympos...

Crises are, by definition, high-uncertainty situations. Acknowledging uncertainty should be part of crisis communication. But uncertainty can generate negative psychological effects. How to avoid that? It has been suggested that... 1/