Communication of Uncertainty: The Concept of Probability in Government Press-Conferences during the Early Covid-19 Crisis in Denmark

This article focuses on the Danish Prime ministry’s press conferences during the first 3 months of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 when stakes were high, and reliable information practically non-existent. It analyses various uses of the concept of probability in political communication focusing on aleatory and epistemic concepts of probability, i.e. its ‘dual nature’. The question is whether and how different uses of the concept of probability can be identified in press conferences and how the uncertainty of the situation was communicated to the public. The analysis identifies how a space for decision-making can be extended and limited through the application of various probability concepts.