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Previous research on media framing of wildfire has chiefly been concerned with the nature of wildfire in the context of climate change and with framing effects on policy and public opinion. Empirical studies on media content, hence what is mediated to crisis managers and the public concerning authorities' and the public's response, seem to be largely missing. This is remarkable, given that the media represent main sources of information that may influence crisis management and shape public opinion. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify key media frames relating to portrayals of public and authority responses during and after a wildfire crisis. The study is based on media articles from two time periods: immediately after the fire and 1 year later. We used a thematic method of analysis (TA), thus an inductive, "bottom‐up" approach. A core frame, Responsibility/accountability is identified, underpinned by two sub‐themes. One sub‐theme relates to the causes of the fire and its escalation, revealing a number of different interrelated blame frames. The second sub‐theme refers to management of the crisis, reflecting both authorities' and citizens' responses. The deficiencies of the former are implicitly suggested to have forced citizens to act to compensate for their inadequacy. The main theoretical contribution is the identification of an interrelationship between frames in relation to different groups of individuals responding to a crisis, pointing to a more complex view of framing effects. In addition, results show how media tend to assess crisis management based on idealistic criteria, inevitably making the evaluation negative. This contributes to an understanding of how media blame frames, thus "blame games," may unfold. Practical implications of these results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to explore the framing of victims and authorities in Swedish press during the narcolepsy crisis, occurring in the aftermath of the A(H1N1) vaccination campaign. Reporting from five major newspapers was analysed using an inductive and a deductive frame of analysis. The inductive analysis showed that the focus in the reporting on victims was their struggles in everyday life, coping with the disease, while the focus regarding authorities was on criticism and accountability. The deductive analysis revealed the use of a number of framing devices that reinforced the view of victims as vulnerable and authorities as deserving criticism. The underlying significance of the media portrayal and the implications from a crisis communication perspective are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to identify and analyze the ways in which images and reactions of the public are described and framed in media articles and reports. Reporting from six major events affecting the Swedish public was studied using a thematic method of analysis. The results show three dynamic interrelated processes at work simultaneously in framing the public: identification, characterization and evaluation. A significant contribution of this study is the emphasis on how this often subtle and implicit framing influences the portrayal of human reactions, thus possibly influencing the expectations and evaluations of both the public in general and crisis managers in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assumptions about citizens and their behaviour in a crisis situation strongly influence emergency planning and decision-making. This article therefore aims to explore municipal crisis managers' views of citizens in relation to contingencies. We identified two dimensions in the municipal leaders' views of the general public, illustrating how these views can be characterized by two separate stages. They embrace individual prerequisites for preparing for and dealing with contingencies, as well as characteristics of the current crisis and its effects on the citizens. The article highlights public leaders' awareness of social vulnerability factors and demonstrates a more complex image of crisis managers' views of the general public than has generally been depicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the responsibility for societal safety and crisis preparedness rests with local municipal leaders. These tasks are demanding, and often insufficiently prioritized and supported. The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing motivation to work with these issues, and to explore relationships among such factors. Two datasets, formed the basis of the analysis. From the qualitative analysis, a model was developed describing three main categories of motivational factors: person-related, organizational and activity-related. Actual crisis experience was found to influence factors in all three categories. Differences regarding motivational forces could be identified among different roles among officials. Self-determination theory is applied to the model, illustrating possible ways to influence motivation for work with preparedness issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning from incidents is important for improving safety. Many companies spend a great deal of time and money on such learning procedures. The objectives of this paper are to present some early results from a project aimed at revealing weaknesses in the procedures for learning from incidents and to discuss improvements in these procedures, especially in chemical process industries. The empirical base comes from a project assessing organizational learning and the effectiveness of the different steps of the learning cycle for safety and studying relations between safety-specific transformational leadership, safety climate, trust, safety-related behavior and learning from incidents. The results point at common weaknesses in the organizational learning, both in the horizontal learning (geographical spread) and in vertical learning (double-loop learning). Furthermore, the effectiveness in the different steps of the learning cycle is low due to insufficient information in incident reports, very shallow analyses of reports, decisions that focus at solving the problem only at the place where the incident took place, late implementations and weak solutions. Strong correlations with learning from incidents were found for all safety climate variables as well as for safety-related behaviors and trust. The relationships were very strong for trust, safety knowledge, safety participation and safety compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to develop knowledge about demands and experiences relating to management of socially generated crises in local communities. Interviews were conducted in four municipalities with experiences of such situations, e.g., widely publicized murders, suicides or cases of sexual abuse. A modified grounded theory analysis of the interviews identified six central themes. Two themes pertained to the actual event and its consequences; two concerned the management of the crisis; and two themes focused on reactions and needs among those involved. Basic tensions were identified between confidentiality and openness, between support and accountability and between empathy and distancing. Similarities and differences in relation to management of other kinds of crises are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article studies the recollections and reflections of Swedish farmers who were affected to differing degrees by the Chernobyl accident on 1986. Twenty dairy farmers were interviewed within the framework of a study concerned with the psychological and social aspects of a situation where food production was affected by radioactive fallout. Data from the interview were then analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Analysis shows clearly different pattern of thoughts among farmers interviewed. Findings of the study further indicate that different systems of beliefs and interpretation can still be developed and maintained long after a highly publicized event happened.

Two experiments were performed to study the effects of exposure to moderate cold ( + 5°C) on psychomotor and cognitive tasks requiring sustained attention. Twelve male and 12 female subjects participated. Skin and core temperatures, heart rate and subjective ratings were recorded. Considerable decrements in manual dexterity were found during exposure, but no effects on simple reaction time or speed of correct response were observed. The effects of cold on the performance of complex tasks were demonstrated as an increase in the number of errors and the speed of incorrect response and as an increase in the number of false alarms on two computerized performance tests. The results, indicating a negative effect of moderate cold exposure on tasks which require speed and which encourage erroneous responses, are discussed in terms of theories of arousal and distraction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]