Theorizing Crisis Communication E-Book

Timothy L. Sellnow

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Blackwell Foundations of Communication Theory Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 473

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Theorizing Crisis Communication presents a comprehensive review and critique of the broad range of theoretical frameworks designed to explain the role of communication in the development, management, and consequences of natural and man-made crises. * Brings together the variety of theoretical approaches emerging in the study of crisis communication into one volume for the first time. * Summarizes theories from such diverse perspectives as rhetoric, risk management, ethics, mass communication, social media, emergency response, crisis outcomes, and warning systems, while presenting clear examples of how the theory is applied in crisis communication research * Presents theoretical frameworks generated by research from many disciplines including sociology, psychology, applied anthropology, public health, public relations, political science, organizational studies, and criminal justice * An essential tool for a comprehensive understanding of the onset, management, response, resolution, and ultimate meaning of these devastating world events

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Foundations of Communication Theory

Title Page

Copyright

Notes on Authors

1 Introduction to Crisis Communication Theory

Defining Crisis

Defining Communication

Theory

Plan for This Book

Conclusion

2 Theories of Communication and Crisis Development

Assumptions of Stage Models

Three-Stage Model

Fink’s Four-Stage Cycle

Turner’s Six-Stage Sequence of Failure in Foresight

Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication

Conclusion

3 Theories of Communication and Warning

Detection of Risks

Functional Approaches to Communication and Warning

Hear-Confirm-Understand-Decide-Respond Model

Protective Action Decision Model

Integrated Model of Food Recall

Emerging Warning Systems

Conclusion

4 Theories of Communication and Crisis Outcomes

Organizational Learning

Sensemaking

Organizational Legitimacy

Situational Crisis Communication Theory

Discourse of Renewal

Conclusion

5 Theories of Communication and Emergency Response

Assumptions of Communication and Emergency Response

Chaos Theory and Emergent Self-Organization

Theories of Communication and Crisis Coordination

Communication and Community Resilience

Four-Channel Model of Communication

Conclusion

6 Theories of Communication and Mediated Crises

News Framing Theory

Focusing Events

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Crisis News Diffusion

Diffusion of Innovations

Conclusion

7 Theories of Influence and Crisis Communication

Apologia

Image Repair

Kategoria

Dramatism

Narrative Theory

Conclusion

8 Theories of Communication and Risk Management

Mindfulness

High Reliability Organizations

Precautionary Principle

Cultural Theory

Risk Communication as Argument

Conclusion

9 Theories of Crisis Communication and Ethics

Ethics

Crisis Communication as an Ethical Domain

Responsible Communication

Significant Choice

The Ethic of Care

Virtue Ethics

Justice

Applications of Moral Theory to Crisis

Conclusion

10 Using Theories of Crisis Communication

Minimization of Communication in an All-Hazards Approach

The Practicality of Theory in Understanding Crisis Communication

The Pathway for Inspiring Meaningful Change

Successful Connections Linking Theory-Based Research and Practitioners

Promising New Lines of Research

Persistent Challenges

A Final Word

Index

Foundations of Communication Theory

Series Editor

Marshall Scott Poole (University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana)

Editorial Board

James Aune (Texas A&M University); Robert T. Craig (University of Colorado at Boulder); Leah Lievrouw (University of California Los Angeles); Alan Rubin (Kent State University, Emeritus); David Seibold (University of California Santa Barbara)

The Foundations of Communication Theory series publishes innovative textbooks that summarize and integrate theory and research for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses. In addition to offering state-of-the-art overviews in a broad array of subfields, authors are encouraged to make original contributions to advance the conversation within the discipline. Written by senior scholars and theorists, these books will provide unique insight and new perspectives on the core sub-disciplinary fields in communication scholarship and teaching today.

Published

Organizational Change: Creating Change Through Strategic Communication, Laurie K. Lewis

Theorizing Crisis Communication, Timothy L. Sellnow and Matthew W. Seeger

Forthcoming

Foundations of Media and Communication Theory, Leah Lievrouw

Managing Privacy, Sandra Petronio

Foundations of Organizational Communication, Linda Putnam and Scott Poole

Dilemma-Centered Political Communication, Herbert W. Simons

This edition first published 2013

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Cover image: Rescue team stand below as a helicopter lifts up logistical supplies at the peak of Mount Salak, near Sukabumi, Indonesia, May 13, 2012, following the crash of a Russian Sukhoi Superjet. Photo © REUTERS/Beawiharta Beawiharta.

Cover design by RBDA

Notes on Authors

Timothy L. Sellnow is Professor of Communication and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in Communication at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Sellnow’s interdisciplinary research on risk and crisis communication appears in an array of refereed journals, handbooks, and edited volumes. He has also co-authored five books on risk and crisis communication. Dr. Sellnow frequently serves as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies in the food industry and government agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on risk and crisis communication planning.

Matthew W. Seeger is Dean of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts and a Professor of Communication at Wayne State University in Detroit. His work on crisis, risk and communication has appeared in more than 100 journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Dr. Seeger is the author or co-author of six books on organizational communication ethics and crisis and risk communication. Dr. Seeger also frequently serves as advisor to the auto industry, manufacturing organizations and government agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on topics related to crisis management.

1

Introduction to Crisis Communication Theory

Crises are increasingly important social, political, economic and environmental forces and arguably create more change more quickly than any other single phenomenon. Crises have the potential to do great harm, creating widespread and systematic disruption. But they may also be forces for constructive change, growth and renewal. They can quickly reshape institutions, create shifts in demographics and populations, alter ecosystems, undermine economic stability and change widely held beliefs. Understanding these events, therefore, is critical. A significant component of that understanding involves clarifying the role of communication processes in the onset, management, resolution and meaning of crises.

Recent examples, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, illustrate the rapid change that happens following a crisis. The events of 9/11 precipitated not only a fundamental rethinking of federal policy but also created the most comprehensive reorganization of the US federal government to occur in decades. Hurricane Katrina saw a major demographic shift in New Orleans and created new understandings of risk and the role of governments in response to disasters. The 2004 tsunami claimed as many as 230,000 lives in 14 countries, wiped away entire communities, and created widespread economic and environmental damage. It also called attention to the risks associated with tsunamis and development in coastal areas. Historically, the worst crises have been earthquakes and infectious disease pandemics. The 1918–1919 influenza, or Spanish flu, pandemic is estimated to have infected 500 million people worldwide and may have resulted in more than 20 million deaths. The worst earthquake of the twentieth century occurred in Tangshan China in 1976. Official death tolls indicate that about 255,000 people lost their lives and another 150,000 were injured. Crises, big and small, natural and human-caused, are inevitable; in fact, many scholars suggest that they are occurring with greater frequency and causing more harm than they have in the past (Perrow, 1984; Seeger, Sellnow and Ulmer, 2003).

While it is impossible to avoid all crises and disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, some can be avoided and most can be more effectively managed. Crisis management is a well-established practice drawing on a variety of fields including medicine, sociology, psychology, engineering, logistics, political science and criminal justice, as well as communication. Agencies, both public and private, such as the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and the Red Cross, have a critical role in creating crisis response capacities. Crises are by definition interdisciplinary events and often reach across regional, cultural, economic and political boundaries. Some researchers have pointed out that this interdisciplinary aspect has made integration of research and practice more challenging (Pearson and Clair, 1998). Along with communication, integration, coordination and cooperation are critical to negotiating these boundaries and to effective crisis management and response.

Crisis communication theories problematize the messages and mean­ing construction process in all forms of human interaction and coordination that surround these threatening and high uncertainty events. Because crises are, by their nature, unpredictable, theorizing about them creates many challenges. In some ways, every crisis may be seen as an entirely anomalous and unique event that, by definition, defies any systematic explanation. It is common to see a crisis as just an accident, an unusual combination of events that could not happen again. Conversely, the fact that crises occur at an increasing and alarming frequency allows scholars to observe similarities, patterns and relationships across many occurrences. Many theoretical crisis frameworks described throughout this book were developed for specific types of events, including warning theories and evacuation models for hurricanes and recall models for contaminated food (Chapter 3). In many cases, scholars have also found that these approaches have utility for understanding other kinds of crisis. Increasingly, efforts are directed toward developing broader, more encompassing theories, using what is sometimes called an all hazards approach. This approach begins by understanding that all events described as crises will have some common elements, such as threat, uncertainty and the need for an immediate response, and that common response contingencies will be required.