Inclusive Crisis Communication During COVID-19: Lessons Learned From the Experiences of Persons With Disabilities in Makassar, Indonesia

Crisis and emergency risk communication lessons from the Elk River spill.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world, requiring emergency management by health authorities and providers, it created flow-on crises and “crisis contagion” for organizations ranging from international airlines and tourism operators to local businesses, schools, and universities. In addition to the risks directly associated with the health emergency, many organizations were plunged into crisis because of severe restrictions to their operations and income losses. This analysis examines crisis communication in an organization faced with major financial losses, staff redundancies, and disruption. It analyses how these and necessary crisis responses were communicated to stakeholders, using situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), as its analytical framework. While noting alternative perspectives such as crisis and emergency risk communication (CERC) theory, SCCT is identified as the most widely applied theory of crisis communication, and thus warrants ongoing review in an era of media fragmentation, disinformation, and low public trust. Furthermore, this analysis provides a relatively rare “inside” (emic) perspective through ethnography and autoethnography conducted by a senior decision-maker in the organization studied, which expands traditional outside (etic) perspectives and offers new insights into crisis communication.

Organizational crises are threats to stakeholder relationships that can impact tangible and intangible corporate assets. In focusing on how digitalisation is changing corporate crisis communication, this chapter addresses the rise of paracrises and the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in processing risk information for crisis management and communication. The chapter illustrates the digitalisation of crisis communication through the case of VW’s advertisements in 2020 launching its 2021 Golf; the advertisements attracted widespread condemnation in social media and traditional news media for being racist, thus damaging VW’s reputation. The authors argue that as various aspects of crisis communication become digitalized, the primary effects of digital channels on corporate crisis communication are simple translations. Accordingly, future research should focus on how to integrate digital channels into crisis communication rather than on seeking to find isolated effects of various digital channels in crisis communication.

This review analyses the use of memes as a messaging strategy for resilience and crisis communication. Memes utilise the viral nature to convey messages rapidly and efficiently when employed as a communications tactic. This makes memes an essential tool in marketing strategy for resilience and crisis communication. This review is underpinned with the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), which was developed by W. Timothy Coombs. Memes have evolved into powerful communication tools capable of conveying complex emotions, ideas, and social commentaries with remarkable speed and reach. They can quickly spread messages, counteract misinformation, and foster a sense of community among those affected. Memes have demonstrated their value in resilience communication by offering a platform for expressing shared experiences and fostering emotional connections. They empower individuals and communities to cope with adversity, using humour and relatability to make complex concepts more accessible. Memes contribute to the promotion of resilience by reinforcing social bonds and enabling people to find solidarity in difficult situations. Their capacity to resonate culturally and emotionally ensures that they remain relevant and impactful in digital communication. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the role of memes in engaging audiences, building community, and promoting resilience will likely become even more pronounced, solidifying their place as central tools in both crisis and resilience communication strategies. It was concluded that memes are essential marketing strategy tools for resilience and crisis communication.

In an effort to de-Westernise crisis communication literature, this study explores the Kuwaiti government’s COVID-19 discourse over Twitter by using criteria from Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication model (CERC) and Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). The Kuwaiti government mostly used instructing strategies, complying with crisis communication principles. However, contrary to recommendations from literature, reputation strategies were prioritised over adjusting strategies, confirming the influence of politics during crises. The results also revealed that the public interacted with instructing and adjusting strategies more than reputation strategies demonstrating the public’s need for information rather than reputation. Regarding Twitter use, the results indicated that the government lacked the necessary skills to communicate proficiently over the platform. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to theory development in crisis communication and governmental use of social media.

In this paper, secondary crisis communication have been analyzed with respect to the effects of traditional media vs new media tools during the times of crises. The results confirms the strong relationship between the variables of SMCC model- Social Mediated Crisis Communication model. As the model highlighted the importance of word of mouth during crisis time, the results testing the cognitive dimension of acquiring news and updates indicated that the major source of information about the true crisis that happened before conducting the research was “friends and family” and social media –via what’s app and BBM. When testing the affective dimension, comparing traditional media to social media in terms of trustworthiness, the traditional media won over social media. Word of mouth also plays an important role in evaluating news as trustworthy. The direct and indirect channels of communication that transfer information about crisis appeared in testing the behavioral component of the information processing, where information is processed either directly by the receiver through social media or traditional media, or indirectly via inactive users who receive information reported by followers via twitter or Facebook or what’s app. The above mentioned results point to the need to extend crisis communication theories and shed more light on the mediated role of social networking sites in crisis communication as a shift from one to many communication mode to many to many communication mode. There are many intervening variables in the process of new media crisis communication that need to be examined and experimented such as interpretations use experiences (Schultz et al.,2011) in addition to users’ evaluation of medium credibility and the overall communication environment. Integration of social media into crisis and risk communication is crucial for crisis management, but it needs to be well planned. Using social media has the advantage of gaining fast information that would reduce rumors, but it has to be well planned to gain trust and credibility Having a comparison of a non-crisis information seeking situation builds the credibility of the results in times information seeking during crisis situations. The findings of this study have practical implications when designing communication strategies for government and organizations during emerging crisis situations. Using social media would result in a more positive evaluation of the situation, and achieving higher levels of awareness when information dissemination is needed. Communication of consistent messages via social networking sites in line with traditional media forms could assist in limiting rumors and achieve news credibility.

A crisis is an inherently unpredictable event. However, it often exhibits patterns that can help authorities anticipate challenges and respond more effectively to crisis situations. Current information systems for public communication during crises tend to focus on disseminating standardized messages across various communication channels. This approach contradicts effective communication practices, as different audiences have different information needs. Inappropriate public communication messages can generate noise, amplify perception of risk, and increase feelings of insecurity. This paper proposes a novel model to guide the development of information systems for crisis communication. To ensure flexibility and adaptability across diverse crisis scenarios, our approach maps and models variability in the crisis communication process. This variability model enables the rapid creation of tailored yet consistent crisis communication, delivered through appropriate channels to meet the needs of different audiences - such as crisis responders, authorities, press and the general public - who are the intended recipients of the system.

This paper continues with the discourse on risk cultures that was prominently conducted in social science in the 1980s and 1990s. Though several authors applied different framings to risk culture, the basic idea was that late modern societies should be considered, in general, as risk societies or risk cultures. Taking and building upon this idea, this paper proposes its own approximation to the topic. The proposed framework shows several similarities to the cultural theory concept of Douglas and Wildavsky. However, whereas the cultural theory concept distinguishes between different societal subgroups and their specific way of dealing with risks, the framework suggested in this article distinguishes between risk cultures of a given society, which do not necessarily correspond to nation states. A typology distinguishing three different risk cultures is proposed, which emerged out of an empirical comparative study on socio-cultural factors of risk perception, alerting and crisis communication in Europe. The three different ideal-typical risk cultures found here are: individual-oriented, state-oriented and fatalistic. The typology is further elaborated and conclusions for crisis management and communication are drawn, which should allow the development of more appropriate communication measures to enhance compliance of citizens in case of disaster.

COVID-19 communication has drawn a sharp focus across the globe and elicited varied publicperceptions. This study sought to assess the influence of covid-19 crisis communication onpublic perception of the Kenyan government communication strategy with a case of Kibra subcounty Nairobi, Kenya, from March 2020 to December 2020. The main objective was to assesshow the government's daily speeches influenced the public interpretation of the COVID-19crisis. The rationale was based on assessing the public perception of the government’scommunication strategy. The findings of this study will be be helpful to communicationexperts and will help in improving the existing crisis communication strategies. This waslimited to Lindi ward in Kibra sub-county. Source Credibility Theory (CT) and SituationalCrisis Communication Theory (CCT) were used for understanding perception. This studyadopted a survey design to collect quantitative data involving 123 household heads sampledpurposively in Lindi, Kibra through a modified Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication(CERC) questionnaire. Averagely, 1% of the respondents disagreed with questions regardingCOVID-19 daily speeches, 8.5% indicated neutrality, and 90.5% agreed with the statements.The study concluded that the public's perceptions of government communication strategyregarding the COVID-19 crisis were favorable. The study recommends investigating theimpact of the centralization of the Kenyan government communication departments on crisiscommunication.Keywords: Crisis Communication, Public Perception, Communication Strategy

In 2007, a US National Park Service (NPS) biologist working in Grand Canyon National Park in the state of Arizona died from pneumonic plague contracted from a mountain lion, prompting NPS, in partnership with local and federal agencies, to inform publics about plague risk within park contexts. Overall, the incident attracted limited media attention and public concern about an increased risk of plague. Drawing on the Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF), the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication model (CERC) and the related literature outlining ‘best practices’ in crisis communication, we explore how characteristics of this incident may have attenuated, rather than amplified, plague risk. Results are drawn from the data collected at a workshop with NPS employees and in-depth interviews with these and other individuals. Theoretical and practical implications of this research, including future directions for pairing CERC and SARF in organizational risk and crisis communication research are discussed.

Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication: FEMA’s Twitter use during the 2017 hurricane season

Cyber-attacks have become a prominent issue in the digital society. Attacks can result in losses for individuals and organisations. Cyber-attacks such as data breaches can create a very real threat to all stakeholders with a strong perception of vulnerability because potential loss of sensitive data. Such crises place unique demands for crisis management and communication. Communication is crucial for promoting awareness and sharing information and instructions to stakeholders. Consequently, effective communication can help build dynamic organisational cyber resilience. The research question of this paper is: How can crisis communication help manage cyber incidents? To respond to the research question, this paper draws on earlier research on cyber security-related communication. In addition, two semi-structured group interviews were conducted to collect views from expert participants in the field of cyber security management and communication. The data were analysed thematically. The findings from the interviews support earlier research on cyber security communication. To help manage cyber incidents, cyber crisis communication should be timely and open, express empathy to stakeholders, show accountability and commitment to securing the data and to resolving the incident. Clear instructions and information about protective actions are also required from effective communication. By synthesising findings from earlier research literature and the interview data, this paper proposes preliminary communication guidelines that can assist in identifying effective strategies and requirements for cyber security communication within organisations. The guidelines can help prepare for and respond to cyber crises and consequently support organisational cyber resilience.

PurposeThe use of social media in crisis communication is growing and spreading in an instantaneous speed. The social media technology enables immediate information sharing reaching millions of users on various social media platforms. This paper has gathered lessons learnt from the experiences of the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service in the UK, the Oslo Police Operation Center in Norway, and from an extensive literature review on social media and crisis communication. This empirical and theoretical information was the basis of the 18 guidelines or “do’s” and “don’ts” on how to use social media in crisis communication. The purpose of this paper was to gather best practices that can help crisis managers when attempting to use social media as a crisis communication tool.Design/methodology/approachThe paper had two cases with semi-structured interviews with representatives from two crisis management organizations (Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service in the UK dealing with safety and Oslo Police Operation Center in Norwa dealing with security). The empirical data were complemented by documentary analysis of the most up-to-date articles on social media in crisis communication.FindingsThe paper provides empirical insights about how to use social media as a crisis communication tool. The two case studies provide different ways to use social media (one-way communication tool and as a two-way information share). This empirical and theoretical information was the basis of the 18 guidelines or “do’s” and “don’ts” on how to use social media in crisis communication. The “do’s” and “don’ts” are best practices that can help crisis managers when attempting to use social media as a crisis communication tool. Some of the main “do’s” include building a relationship with the public prior to a crisis; being courteous, honest and transparent; being factual, accurate and credible; being timely in your messages during a crisis, etc. Some of the main “don’ts” include do not speculate; do not post personal opinions; do not post anything that could bring the organization into disrepute etc.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of the chosen research approach with two case studies complemented by a literature review, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the guidelines provided and to further find other case studies.Practical implicationsThe guidelines including 18 “do’s” and “don’ts” are best practices that can help crisis managers when attempting to use social media as a crisis communication tool.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills an identified need to study how social media technology can play a major role in the response efforts of the crisis management community during a crisis. It also reveals the potential of using social media as an “information harvesting” tool and a tool for “rumor management”.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, scholars from the fields of journalism, communication, management, and psychology paid increased attention to communication efforts that take place before, during, and after organizational crises and other events likely to instigate negative reactions on the part of the public. This subset of communication has come to be known as crisis communication—the construction and dissemination of public messages in the event of organizational incidents, natural disasters, accidents, and other incidents likely to induce fear, anxiety, or unrest. Crisis communication is often delineated from risk communication in that crisis communication deals specifically with events that have taken place as opposed to the risk of events occurring in the future. Given that crisis communication has emerged from several academic traditions, numerous approaches to the study of these messages and their effectiveness can be found in the extant literature. Each of these approaches sheds insight on a particular aspect of the crisis communication process, such as the actions inside an organization, audience response, message construction, or stakeholder relations. This bibliography attempts to capture key works across all of these traditions and is divided into several components. A list of key overview texts is presented along with information regarding journals in which much of the essential scholarship in the field can be found, a series of studies defining the parameters of the field is included, and essential studies in the field are discussed in two sections. One section presents studies that examine crisis communication from several leading methodological perspectives, the other the key studies concerning the prevailing theoretical perspectives in the field.

The popularization of social media has brought about a major change in the whole society. Crisis communication, an increasingly essential subject in a risky society, can not be spared, but not enough attention has been paid to it. The objective of the study is to unveil the impact social media have on crisis communication. By means of literature reading analysis, the author looks into the existing literature and sorts out 3 major differences social media make to crisis communication: the way crises are constructed and spread, the redistribution of discursive power in crisis communication, and instinct features of social media which affect crisis communication. After carefully interpreting, the author comes to the conclusion that social media is playing such a core part in crisis communication that higher demand for crisis communication management ought to be set.