Support and trust in the government and COVID-19 experts during the pandemic

Support in government and trust in COVID-19 experts are important for pandemic preparedness. Based on the salient value similarity (SVS) model, which holds that "salient values" are important for trust in risk management, we measured ruling and opposition party supporters' support and trust in the government and COVID-19 experts. Comparing the results from 2020 to 2022, supporters of the ruling party maintained their support for the government, while supporters of the opposition party changed from disapproval to support. Trust in experts was higher among ruling party supporters and lower among opposition party supporters. Trust in university researchers did not differ between the ruling and opposition parties. This reveals that it is possible for a government to gain support from opposition party supporters and that achieving trust in experts who advise the government is more difficult than fostering trust in ordinary scientists.

Manga-based risk communication for the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study of storytelling that incorporates a cultural context

This article is about manga-based messaging for risk communication on COVID-19, describing the practice of collaboration between a group of experts and a popular manga artist. Collaborative storytelling through popular manga provides an effective discussion platform for diverse experts in various specialties, ages, and genders to discuss a topic in a short time. These "stories" can integrate social meaning, legitimacy, and a local context into scientific messages. They also provide the public with a deeper understanding of the messages through the characters and their "real-life" situations, as long as the messages remain consistent with the worldview of the original work.