Spokespersons and Message Control: How the CDC Lost Credibility during the Anthrax Crisis This paper was presented to the Red River Communication Conference April 22, 2004.

This study evaluates the role of spokespersons and message control in complex organizations facing ambiguous crises. Specifically, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) response to the anthrax crisis in 2001 is offered as a case study. A textual analysis of CDC telebriefings and corresponding print media coverage of the anthrax crisis reveals the use of multiple spokespersons and poor message control resulted in a seemingly fragmented CDC message and apparent loss of CDC credibility. The study concludes that limiting the number of spokespersons and appropriate use of strategic ambiguity may afford organizations an opportunity to make sense of the situation, avoid confusing and contradictory messages and protect organizational credibility. Recommendations include (1) limiting the number of spokespersons, which allows for greater message control while reducing contradictory and inconsistent messages, (2) maintaining an organizational willingness to revise publicly stated positions as more accurate information becomes available, and (3) actively using strategic ambiguity as a mechanism to protect organizational credibility.     

Establishing the structure of reality for an industry: model and anti-model arguments as advocacy in Nike's crisis communication

This study illustrates the potential role of model and anti-model arguments in organizational crisis communication. Specifically, model and anti-model arguments are described as a strategy for moving the focus of a crisis from an organization to its industry. Model arguments enable organizations to establish their corrective action as industry standards that merit imitation. Conversely, organizations can set minimum standards for their industries with anti-model arguments. Phil Knight's May 12, 1998, speech announcing Nike's new initiatives in global manufacturing is analyzed as a case study. The essay concludes that model and anti-model arguments can suspend criticism of the organization, create the foundation for a return to industry prominence by the organization, and establish proposed new industry standards that are favorable to the organization.     

Crisis Communication Strategy on Social Media and the Public’s Cognitive and Affective Responses: A Case of Foster Farms Salmonella Outbreak

This study examined an organization’s crisis communication strategy (i.e., crisis response strategy and technical translation strategy) on social media and the public’s cognitive and affective responses. Twenty crisis communication messages posted by Foster Farms regarding a salmonella outbreak and 349 public responses were analyzed. The results showed that a technical translation strategy generated more public acceptance of the message and more positive emotions than a crisis response strategy. A crisis response strategy generated more public rejections of the message and more negative emotions than a technical translation strategy.     

Social media and corporate reputation during crises: the viability of video-sharing websites for providing counter-messages to traditional broadcast news

Exemplification, or the use of highly emotional and arousing messages to elicit responses based on impression formation, has been shown to influence perceptions of events, individuals, and organizations. News coverage concerning the use of lean finely textured beef (LFTB) is one such example, and anecdotal evidence suggests that this coverage may have had a negative impact on public perception of the manufacturers producing LFTB. The current study examined the use of social media (specifically video-sharing sites) as a means of combating the negative effects of exemplars concerning LFTB. Respondents reported their perceptions of threat severity, susceptibility, behavioral intentions to avoid LFTB, and perceptions of organizational trust and reputation associated with the manufacturer. The findings are consistent with exemplification theory and indicate that message ordering can influence exemplification effects. Results are discussed in terms of implications for public relations and risk communication.     

Corporate Crisis Communication: Examining the Interplay of Reputation and Crisis Response Strategies

This experiment study used a 2 × 3 between-subjects design to assess two factors in crisis communication and reputation management—prior corporate reputation (good and bad) and crisis response strategies (apology, sympathy, and compensation)—on an organization facing high crisis responsibility. Results indicate that stakeholders prefer apology to compensation response strategies. Organizations with a prior good reputation have better postcrisis reviews that those with a prior bad reputation. Crisis managers facing crises that generate high attribution of crisis responsibility and anger are advised to rely on apology rather than compensation strategy. It would also be advantageous for an organization with prior good reputation to highlight its past achievements when responding to a crisis.     

A consumer's view of crisis communication: Can an organization benefit from having a response plan?

Crisis communication research establishes the importance of relationships between organizations and their publics. While theoretical treatments and case studies support this relationship, limited empirical investigations have examined how organizational responses to crisis influence public responses. This study sought to determine if grocery shoppers responded differently to organizations engaging in crisis communication practices and those that do not. Results indicate that respondents express stronger intention to continue purchasing from an organization and see the organization as concerned and respectful of the consumer when it engages in crisis communication practices. The discussion section addresses implications of these findings for future research and public relations practice.     

A post-crisis discourse of renewal: the cases of malden mills and cole hardwoods

This investigation employed two case studies of post-crisis discourse to describe an alternative to apologia as the primary rhetorical stance following organizational crisis. The authors identify three themes of this discourse; strong commitment to stakeholders, an immediate and unequivocal commitment to rebuild, and crisis as an opportunity for renewal. Conclusions are offered regarding the directionality of post-crisis discourse, crisis as a force for organizational renewal, the importance of emphasizing possibilities over issues of cause, blame, and culpability and the role of C.E.O. discourse in framing the meaning of crisis. Implications for enactment, for image restoration theory, and for improved crisis management are offered.     

Bridging strategy versus buffering strategy: enhancing crisis management capability in public management for relational and reputational improvement,and conflict avoidance

This study seeks to understand the effectiveness of an organization’s communication strategy in enhancing its crisis management capability in public management. The relationships between two types of communication strategies (bridging and buffering), crisis management capability in public management, relational improvement, reputational improvement, and conflict avoidance have been tested to suggest how an organization’s overall strategic orientation may help its ability to weather a crisis. A survey of communication managers was conducted in South Korea with 105 responses, representing 105 organizations. Results revealed that organizations which are predisposed toward adopting the bridging strategy as their main communication strategy also report better crisis management capability in public management, and as a result, experience positive relational and reputational outcomes.     

The Discourse of Crisis in Public Meetings: Case Study of a School District's Multimillion Dollar Error

School districts are both big businesses and a form of local governance that is part of American democracy. When a crisis makes a district's democratic face relevant, the organization will experience a dilemma that does not occur in business-only organizations. This study examines the public meetings of a school board in the western United States as it confronted a multimillion dollar error. After reviewing the organizational crisis literature, background is provided on the district, the crisis, and the method—action-implicative discourse analysis. The district's crisis, the paper shows, was constructed through six discursive practices. Each is identified and illustrated. Because school boards are democratic bodies, they depend on having citizens willing to attend and speak out in public meetings, and they depend on a smaller set of citizens willing to run for and serve in these elected, unpaid school board positions. In crises, these two groups of citizens will have partially competing needs. As a result, local governance organizations will experience a dilemma regarding how to design their public participation. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research on organizational crisis and public meetings, and practical implications for citizens and elected officials.     

The Discourse of Crisis in Public Meetings: Case Study of a School District's Multimillion Dollar Error

School districts are both big businesses and a form of local governance that is part of American democracy. When a crisis makes a district's democratic face relevant, the organization will experience a dilemma that does not occur in business-only organizations. This study examines the public meetings of a school board in the western United States as it confronted a multimillion dollar error. After reviewing the organizational crisis literature, background is provided on the district, the crisis, and the method—action-implicative discourse analysis. The district's crisis, the paper shows, was constructed through six discursive practices. Each is identified and illustrated. Because school boards are democratic bodies, they depend on having citizens willing to attend and speak out in public meetings, and they depend on a smaller set of citizens willing to run for and serve in these elected, unpaid school board positions. In crises, these two groups of citizens will have partially competing needs. As a result, local governance organizations will experience a dilemma regarding how to design their public participation. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research on organizational crisis and public meetings, and practical implications for citizens and elected officials.     

The Use of Equivocal Messages in Responding to Corporate Challenges

A framework is constructed to examine communication professionals’ views regarding the use of equivocal and nonequivocal messages for managing initial statements about corporate challenges. As predicted, equivocal responses were viewed as more appropriate to use and linked to a positive corporate reputation when the crisis situation contained avoidance–avoidance goal conflicts, whereas nonequivocal responses were viewed as more appropriate and linked to a positive corporate reputation when the crisis situation did not contain avoidance–avoidance goal conflicts. Communication professionals also judged nonequivocal and equivocal messages to be appropriate and linked to a positive corporate reputation when they believed the specific message would satisfy the multiple goals of the crisis situation. Implications for public relations practice are discussed.     

构建适应危机管理的图书馆组织文化

组织文化和危机管理是图书馆界研究的热点。文章论述了图书馆组织文化和图书馆危机管理的内涵、研究内容,并对两种理论进行了比较。认为二者可以结合起来,共同发挥作用,提出构建具有危机管理能力的图书馆组织文化,从精神层、制度层、物质层提出了一些将图书馆危机管理思想融入图书馆组织文化的途径和策略。     

Presence,Sex, and Bad News: Exploring the Responses of Men and Women to Tragic News Stories in Varying Media

This study explores the interplay of sex, presence, and enjoyment of nonfictional tragic news content; an experiment was conducted in which participants viewed a news story about Hurricane Katrina's devastation to the Gulf Coast on a standard definition television, high definition television, or a video iPod. The results indicate that women reported more sadness regardless of condition, though they seemed especially moved in the iPod condition. Women also reported more information seeking, and reported highest levels of presence in the iPod condition. The results are discussed both in terms of implications for crisis message practitioners, and in terms of what the results may mean for our understanding of the enjoyment of tragedy.     

图书馆危机管理计划

图书馆危机管理小组成员应包括信息资源专家、计算机网络专家、公共关系专家等多方面的专家,是一个包含技术、人力、组织文化和高层心理因素的组织系统。危机管理计划行动方案,是危机前、中、后连贯的过程。最佳管理计划方案,是危机前的有效行动,将危机扼杀。图书馆危机管理计划的制订,应考虑用户期望、应付用户需求最大峰值能力,以及计划与图书馆发展战略的联系。     

Using Message Maps to Stay on Your Communications Message

ABSTRACT

In this article, media trainer Tripp Frolichstein introduces librarian readers to positive points, positive proof points, distinguishing points and message maps as appropriate tools to plan and carry out effective communication for organizations and companies. In addition, the author provides a list of tips that reiterate and enrich preparation as individuals serve as their organization's media spokespersons.     

The IDEA Model as a Best Practice for Effective Instructional Risk and Crisis Communication

This study presents the IDEA (internalization, distribution, explanation, action) model as an easy-to-use and situationally generalizable framework for quickly developing effective messages instructing people on how to protect themselves before and during high-risk events, crises, disasters, and other emergencies. The model consists of four elements: helping message recipients internalize the potential impact of the risk or crisis event, identifying appropriate channels and strategies for distributing the risk or crisis event messages, offering a brief and intelligible explanation of the nature of the risk or crisis, and providing specific self-protective action steps for people to take. The model may be used to design messages in any risk, crisis, or emergency context. Through a posttest-only quasi-experimental cross-sectional research experiment, this study measured the perceived message effectiveness, cognitive understanding, and behavioral intentions of those viewing a television news story about a crisis situation employing the IDEA model compared to those viewing a similar story replicating typical crisis event news stories delivered to general publics. This comparative examination revealed that the message designed according to the IDEA model was significantly more effective than the status quo message and resulted in greater behavioral intentions to engage in appropriate self-protective actions in the event of an acute risk or crisis situation. Strategies for implementing the model are also provided.     

What Library Managers Should Know about Emotional Labor

This article presents emotional labor in a library context and offers library managers strategies to minimize the negative effects of emotional labor on both staff and users. The components of emotional labor are explained and a framework of response levels is presented with strategies targeted to each response level: incident, training, supervision, human resources, and organizational culture. The strategies offer library managers some ideas for effectively managing emotional labor in their organizations. Understanding the effects of emotional labor and developing the tools that can offset potential negative outcomes can create a more positive work climate and better customer service.     

Being First Means Being Credible? Examining the Impact of Message Source on Organizational Reputation

Research in organizational communication and public relations suggest that in times of crises, messages generated by the organization are most likely to positively influence stakeholder perceptions, whereas those generated by the press may have negative ramifications. Although this advice seems logical, to date there is little research that investigates this claim empirically and directly. Two experiments were conducted to explore the separate and combined impact of print and televised messages concerning an organization in the midst of a crisis. The findings offer empirical evidence that statements from organizations experiencing crises may offset negative stakeholder responses. Theoretical and pragmatic implications are discussed regarding these findings.