Chapter proposals are invited for an edited book examining global portrayals of the coronavirus in diverse print, broadcast, and online media, including but not limited to newspapers, magazines, social media, television, podcasts, and popular culture.

A sampling of confirmed chapters follows:

“A Historical Handshake between the Mainstream Media and Social Media in Response to COVID-19 in Vietnam,” Dinh Thi Thuy Hang and Hien Thi Minh Nguyen, Academy of Journalism and Communication, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Administration, Vietnam

“Does Overnight Online Information-seeking Behavior Predict Media Reportage the Following Morning?: A Big Data Analysis of Media Reportage of Coronavirus in Nigeria,” Mutiu Iyanda Lasisi, Infoprations Limited, Nigeria and Obasanjo Joseph Oyedele, Department of Mass Communication, Bowen University Iwo, Nigeria

“Bloggers against Panic: Russian-speaking Instagram Bloggers in China and Italy Reporting about COVID-2019,” Anna Smoliarova, Department of International Journalism, St. Petersburg State University, Russia; Ekaterina Sharkova, Department of Public Relations in Business, St. Petersburg State University, Russia; and Tamara Gromova, Department of International Journalism, St. Petersburg State University, Russia

“Crisis Comics during Global Health Catastrophes: COVID-19 and Graphic Medicine,” Anu Mary Peter and Raghavi Ravi Kasthuri, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India and M. K. Senthil Babu, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vellore Institute of Technology, India

“Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Transnational Media in Chinese Immigrants’ Struggle for Political Identity,” Zhipeng Gao, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University, Canada

“‘Solidarity’ in the Time of Corona: Re-drawing Boundaries of Belonging through Political Communication and News Media in Slovakia and Austria,” Miša Krenčeyová, Department of Development Studies, University of Vienna, Austria

“Imagining Pandemic as a Failure: Writing, Memory, and Forgetting under COVID-19 in China,” Li Yawen, Department of English Language and Literature, National University of Singapore, Singapore and Natalie Pang, Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore, Singapore

“Arrest of the Public Interest or Fight for Public Health in Serbia,” Kristina Ćendić, Law Faculty, University of Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina

“The Epic Spectator Meets Coronavirus: Notes from the Field,” Kara Reilly, Drama Department, University of Exeter, UK

“Society’s Impact on Media Coverage of Coronavirus: A Community Structure Approach,” John Pollock, Departments of Communication Studies and Public Health, The College of New Jersey, USA

The book will be published in December 2020. Interested authors should send a 300-word abstract, 200-word biography, and sample of a previously published chapter or article to Douglas Vakoch, PhD, at dvakoch@ciis.edu by April 3, 2020. Authors whose proposals have been accepted will be notified by April 6, 2020, and full chapters are due by June 1, 2020. The book targets an academic and professional audience, and all chapters should include scholarly references. Preference will be given to authors who have completed their doctorates. Only previously unpublished works will be considered. This book will appear in the series Environment and Society, which includes such works as “Environment, Social Justice, and the Media in the Age of the Anthropocene.”

Though the book will focus on media portrayals of the coronavirus, proposals for introductory chapters that provide broader scientific and cultural context for understanding the coronavirus and COVID-19 are also invited. In addition to chapters written from the perspective of such disciplines as communication, media studies, and popular culture, contributions from other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences are also encouraged. Rhetorical analyses are especially welcome, as are chapters that provide historical context by comparing contemporary responses to the coronavirus to media coverage of SARS, the Spanish flu, and other public health crises. To cover the global scope of the coronavirus threat, we seek contributions from around the world. To ensure relevance, each chapter will conclude with insights and recommendations to foster effective media coverage of this global public health crisis.

The editor of “Coronavirus in the Media: Early Responses to COVID-19 in Global Perspective,” Douglas Vakoch, PhD, is professor emeritus of clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. His earlier books include “Ecofeminism and Rhetoric: Critical Perspectives on Sex, Technology, and Discourse,” and he serves as general editor of the book series Ecocritical Theory and Practice. As a science communicator, he has appeared on television shows ranging from ABC’s Evening News to PBS’s NOVA, and he has been interviewed by such diverse media outlets as The BBC, The New York Times, The Economist, and Der Spiegel.