Teaching about Risk and Resilience: Communication strategies after a disaster Bruno Takahashi, Ph.D. School of Journalism and Department of Communication Michigan State University
Dec 23, 2015
Teaching about Risk and Resilience:Communication strategies after a disaster
Bruno Takahashi, Ph.D.School of Journalism and
Department of CommunicationMichigan State University
Key concepts
• Risk communication• Crisis communication• Public relations• Media reporting of crisis, risk and resilience• Role of social media
Multidisciplinary perspective in risk communication
• Decision sciences– Social psychology (psychometric approach)
• Behavioral economics• Communication science• Environmental studies• Etc.
Risk communication• What is it? (Covello, 1992; DHHS, 2002)– The exchange of information among interested
parties about the nature, magnitude, significance, and control of risks.
What do we mean by “risk” in PR?(… different from “uncertainty”?
Risk = Probability x Consequence
Theoretical approaches
• Mental models approach• Social constructionist approach• Hazards plus outrage approach• Social amplification of risk• Extended parallel process model• Etc.
Some goals of risk communication
• Share information• Change beliefs• Change risk perceptions• Change behaviors
Key areas related to RISK COMMUNICATION
Perception (Severity and susceptibility)AssessmentMessagingDecision MakingPlanning/Management
• Media response to crisis/risk
RISK
Risk messaging
• Designing information to effectively communicate about risks
• Content of messages (statistical/narrative, framing, etc)
• Types of appeals• Sources, Channels• Information Seeking, Literacy• Theoretical approaches and message design• EPPM, Prospect Theory and others
Optimistic bias, fear appeals, gain/loss
framing, etc.
Crisis Communication Plans
Before(Pre-Crisis Planning)
During(Crisis
Management)
After(Recovery
and Review)
What can you do ahead of time?• Identify threats• Identify audiences/stakeholders for threats• Develop messages for each threat• Conduct training for spokespeople• Ensure access to critical resources
Role of the media
• Journalists and PR• How does risk and resilience fit within traditional news
values?• How to communicate risk to journalists?• Studies of the content of mediated reporting of risk events– Nature of the content• Type of information• Accuracy of information etc.
• Relationship between media and organization/stakeholder groups
• How to report, work with the media, case studies of reporting
Journalistic norms? (Impact, Relevance,
Timeliness, Uniqueness, Prominence, Visual
Convenient)
Role of social media
• The audience has evolved, it is no longer a passive receiver of information.
• How is social media used in crisis situations?– From an organizational perspective– From the audience’s perspective
• Social media use to memorialize victims, for collective coping, emergency requests, dissemination of information, etc.
Risk communication best practices
1. Risk com is an ongoing process.2. Conduct pre-event planning.3. Foster partnerships with the public.4. Coordinate and collaborate with credible sources.5. Meet the needs of the media and remain accessible.6. Listen to the public’s concerns and understand the audience.7. Communication with compassion, concern, and empathy.8. Demonstrate honesty, candor and openness.9. Accept uncertainty and ambiguity.10. Provide messages that foster self-efficacy.