Technical Communication Quarterly Jan 2025

Constructed <i>Ethos</i> and <i>Kairotic</i> Responses in Communicating About the COVID-19 Pandemic to the Chinese Public: A Rhetorical Analysis of Dr. Wenhong Zhang’s Posts on WeChat

Jianfen Chen

Abstract

Amidst the panic, fear, and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Wenhong Zhang emerges as a go-to source for the Chinese public to seek information to protect themselves and find hope and order in their distress. Focusing on Dr. Zhang's 39 WeChat posts from January 2020 to March 2022, this case study reveals that he employs a constructed ethos and leverages WeChat as a powerful social media to craft the kairotic responses to the pandemic.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2025-01-02
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2024.2302467
Open Access
Closed
Topics
argument

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (11)

  1. Baniya (2022)
    Transnational Assemblages in Disaster Response: Networked Communities, Technolo…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Baniya et al. (2021)
    Valuing Expertise During the Pandemic
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Hope (2021)
    Protecting Pandemic Conversations: Tracing Twitter’s Evolving Content Policies …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Koerber (2021)
    Is It Fake News or Is It Open Science? Science Communication in the COVID-19 Pandemic
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Walwema (2021)
    The WHO Health Alert: Communicating a Global Pandemic with WhatsApp
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Show all 11 →
  1. Blythe et al. (2014)
    Professional and Technical Communication in a Web 2.0 World
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Angeli (2012)
    Metaphors in the Rhetoric of Pandemic Flu: Electronic Media Coverage of H1N1 an…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Ding (2009)
    Rhetorics of Alternative Media in an Emerging Epidemic: SARS, Censorship, and E…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Sheehan (1999)
    Metaphor as hermeneutic
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Reynolds (1993)
    <i>Ethos</i>as location: New sites for understanding discursive authority
    Rhetoric Review
  6. Halloran (1982)
    Aristotle's concept of ethos, or if not his somebody else's
    Rhetoric Review
Also cites 19 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.4324/9781315104881
     ↗
  2. 10.55177/tc658475
     ↗
  3. 10.1145/3513130.3558972
     ↗
  4. 10.3390/h7030078
     ↗
  5. 10.1109/47.406725
     ↗
  6. 10.1093/oso/9780195166750.001.0001
     ↗
  7. 10.1145/108844.108856
     ↗
  8. 10.1007/BF03391698
     ↗
  9. 10.1177/1049732305276687
     ↗
  10. 10.1177/S0038038501000219
     ↗
  11. 10.1007/BF00710705
     ↗
  12. 10.1145/3472714.3473644
     ↗
  13. 10.4324/9780203366905
     ↗
  14. 10.1145/2038476.2038522
     ↗
  15. 10.5744/rhm.2020.1009
     ↗
  16. 10.2105/AJPH.2020.305746
     ↗
  17. 10.1353/book4489
     ↗
  18. 10.1145/2556288.2557185
     ↗
  19. 10.1186/s12911-017-0470-0
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 1 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Poroi Feb 2026
    Using Stasis Theory as a Heuristic for Examining Epistemological Dilemmas in a Post-Truth Landscape ↗
    Bruce Bowles
    place and space argument
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly Jan 2026
    Tactical Technical Communication as Expert Communication: Strategic Ethos in Corsi-Rosenthal Boxes ↗
    Steven S. Brooks; Sara C. Doan
    technical communication argument
  3. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy 2026
    Patreon: Support Kairos ↗
    argument
  4. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy 2026
    About Kairos ↗
    argument
  5. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy 2026
    Kairos Staff ↗
    argument