Rhetoric, Accounting and Accountability: COVID-19 and the Case of Italy

The current dramatic context of COVID-19 has urged academics and practitioners to tackle the topic pandemic not only regarding its medical side but from perspective social sciences, accounting accountability as well. In this sense, our paper moves pivotal work Higgins Walker (2012) Merkl-Davies Brennan (2017) tries trace use extent communication by companies during peculiar pandemic. Considering nature elements be evaluated, we applied a manual content analysis, more suitable technique than software capture subjective emotional elements. Among main preliminary results paper, volume importance come surface, such self-assessment tone. confirms important role rhetorical analysis in understanding quality meaning information provided contributes stream Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) studies on corporate reporting.