A Study In The Theory Of Validity Claims On The Pragmatics Of Government Crisis Communication

For Jurgen Habermas,the German sociologist,every communication implies a set of validity claims,namely the truthfulness,legitimacy and sincerity of the speaker.This paper brought the theory of validity claims in the research of crisis communication,and analyzed how validity claims influence the effectiveness of crisis communication.Taking the case of the fall of Taifu Middle School students in Luxian County,Sichuan Province in 2017 as an example,This paper study the rhetoric adopted by the government‘s Weibo in the crisis and its communication results,and to test the effect of Habermas‘ effectiveness on the rhetorical effects of the crisis by using an empirical method.The study found that the validity of official discourse in the release of crisis information on government affairs would significantly influence the public‘s assessment of the effectiveness of discourse.The validity of discourse and public evaluation of the validity of discourse are internal consistence.The study also found that the validity of discourse would significantly influence the public‘s response to the government,but it will not have a significant impact on the spread of rumors in crisis events.Public evaluation of the validity of discourse would significantly influence their response to the government.Also,when the public‘s assessment of the authenticity and legitimacy of discourse were higher,the effectiveness of curbing rumors was better.Public perception of the credibility of the evidence would significantly influence their assessment of the validity of discourse.