Search

The purpose of this commentary is to present the state of sport, social media, and crisis communication research. Existing crisis-communication research involving athletes and coaches; collegiate institutions; teams, leagues, and governing bodies; journalists; and other sport entities are discussed. The commentary concludes with a discussion of directions for future research, including (a) interviewing industry professionals, (b) employing survey design to examine user response, (c) employing experimental design with social media manipulations, (d) validating and developing frameworks, and (e) examining additional social media platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twitter has evolved into a primary platform for sharing opinions and insights on current events, such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It's now regarded as one of the foremost sources for conducting analyses, making predictions, and extracting valuable knowledge for machine learning endeavors. it's crucial for the public and authorities to have access to timely and relevant situational information. This enables them to respond effectively and make informed decisions. This paper categorizes situational information into seven distinct groups and examining the behavioral and emotional shifts that individuals are experiencing amid the Covid-19 pandemic. In this paper, we have done analysis of real-time sentiment in tweets related to the Covid-19 pandemic. We have collected the historical Covid-19 tweets from 01/10/2020 to 30/03/2021. We have proposed an adaptive ensemble learning and Stacked-CNN model and applied the proposed models on the collected datasets for Covid-19 situational information analysis. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the Adaptive ensemble model and the Stacked CNN model in providing better predictions for real-time sentiment analysis of tweets related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The proposed methods can provide valuable insights into public opinion and emotions and has practical applications in areas like public health communication, crisis management, and understanding community concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In early 2020, UNESCO acknowledged that the scale of educational disruption associated with COVID-19 was unparalleled. Schools were forced to react swiftly. However, while remote learning has received considerable attention, less is understood of how educational leaders communicated during the COVID crisis. The study of school leaders' initial crisis communications in response to government-mandated school closures is thus warranted. Accordingly, this study analyses a cross-section of seventeen Australian schools for the period late February through early April 2020 (i.e. term 1), with a focus on the emergency stage of schools' crisis response, rather than the later remote learning continuity planning phase. A mixed-method research approach was adopted. Phase one involved quantitative content analysis of e-mail frequency, words per-sentence, readability (as measured by Flesch), and grade-level communication pitched at (as measured by Flesch-Kinkaid). Surprisingly, parents required university education to effectively comprehend the e-mails. Phase two confirmed that schools performed well in the first four of Smith & Riley's (2012) five-step school crisis response model (getting the facts, implementing contingency plans, being decisive, showing concern), but were less effective at facilitating two-way communication. An additional (sixth) insight emerged in the form of school community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article weaves an interdisciplinary perspective into the discussion of global crises. After a brief focus on theoretical underpinnings, it argues that owing to their inherently improvisational and performative constitutions, crises can enable learning and stimulate social change. Concretely, by creating participatory theater workshops, together with individuals in migration, the initially destabilizing performative space is transformed in a common ground for collective action, thereby opening opportunities for learning and reinvention of meanings. It is through the analysis of these processes that the article offers a critical and creative commentary on the constructive role of communication for crises. Ultimately, it demonstrates that verbal misunderstandings serve as catalysts for unconventional and creative ways of expression. In turn, they promote alternative reflections and negotiations, whereby also serving as suitable response tools to employ during crises and following disruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The communication of unethical destination incidents (UDIs) through social media can be quite complex. Interestingly, the relationship between information forms of UDIs and users' online behavior has been grossly ignored, especially in the case of secondary crisis communication (SCC). We investigate the heterogeneous impact of UDIs' information forms on SCC rooted in the Defleur model of communication. Results from three experimental studies revealed that UDIs in video form elicit higher levels of presence and SCC than those in image-text and text forms. Risk perception and anger are important guiding factors in this process. In brief, the diffusion process of UDIs includes the three stages of reception, transformation, and transmission. The study's findings suggest a new perspective for understanding destination crisis communication and offer practical implications for alleviating the negative impact of destination crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consistency in crisis communication is a key aspect of effective political leadership during crises, but can be difficult in multilevel systems due to the number of leaders and fragmentation of policymaking powers. The literature on multilevel governance suggests that centralisation enhances consistency in crisis communication while decentralisation leads to inconsistency. Consistency in crisis communication is also expected to depend on whether leaders coordinate crisis management. Comparing crisis communication in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper shows that centralisation does not automatically lead to consistent crisis communication. At the same time, decentralised decision making does not necessarily undermine consistency. Overall, crisis communication tends to be more consistent when leaders coordinate crisis management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: The European Air Transport Command (EAT C) is a seven-nation integrated command. One of its core capabilities is strategic aeromedical evacuation (AE). During the global COVID-19 pandemic and Ukrainian crisis, EAT C proved that acting in concert is a valuable, effective, and reliable option. METHODS: By pooling and sharing aircraft and personnel, EAT C has privileged access to a diverse fleet and pool of experts. Cooperation is based on a common set of rules and regulations, which ensures that EAT C can address any problem with expertise. RESULTS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, 1060 COVID-19-positive patients were transported in 198 missions, with neither death nor disease transmission reported during those strategic AE flights. EAT C transferred 986 military cases, mostly routine priority (91.4%); the other 74 cases were civilians, who were transported in 17 missions, with 81.1% categorized as urgent. During the Ukrainian crisis, 251 patients were transported, 112 military and 139 civilians, including 30 children. Among the recorded injuries were cerebrocranial, abdominal, and chest injuries, as well as fractures (180) and amputations (48) of the extremities. DISCUSSION: EAT C is recognized as a center of expertise within the AE community, where interoperability and harmonization of concepts are key to safety and success. Cross-national missions, where a patient is evacuated by an aircraft and medical crew provided by another nation, offer maximum flexibility. Complex situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian crisis, have shown that multinational cooperation is not only achievable but also provides robust, effective, and reliable solutions for AE in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case study on Airblue chronicles the events that led to the biggest plane crash in the aviation history of Pakistan. Airblue flight 202 destined from Karachi to Islamabad crashed while attempting to land under adverse weather conditions. The flight carried 146 passengers and 6 crew members; all died in the crash. Later investigations identified gross errors in judgment and decision making by the cockpit crew and unprofessional attitude as the sole cause of the crash. The case study documents the events that unfolded prior to the crash and identifies a number of major factors that are important while communicating and making decisions under critical situations. It touches upon the themes of superior-subordinate communication and relationships, empowerment, sense of responsibility under life-threatening situations, making sense of crises, the role of initiative, self-confidence, and reliance on others. The case is suitable to be taught on topics dealing with communication, decision making, teamwork, and leadership in crises, at the graduate level (MBA) and in executive training courses on team building, leadership and crisis management. It highlights the situations which emerge as crises and where teamwork is paramount for the effective achievement of goals. Furthermore, it focuses on the possible relapses when effective teamwork and communication are not in play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early career investigators (ECIs) in the Social Sciences and Humanities need to receive adequate information so that they will be empowered to progress in their academic career and deal with the various evaluation processes that constitute an essential part of their professional development. This article relies on an informational-ecosystemic approach originally developed in the context of resilience studies and crisis communication and uses it as a theoretical framework to analyse and understand the "early academic career building information ecosystems" (EACBIEs), into which ECIs professionally develop. The characteristics of these ecosystems are then refined through the analysis of interviews conducted with ECIs from all around Europe in the framework of the European Network for Research Evaluation in Social Sciences and Humanities (ENRESSH), European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action. The analysis reveals the remarkable heterogeneity of the information ecosystems into which early career researchers have to build their career in Europe, articulating a diversity of formal, non-formal and informal learning environments, and several related information channels, as well as showing a geographical spread that covers institutional, national and international levels. Furthermore, although the diverse information channels at hand and geographical levels at which they operate appear in some cases to be complementary, and even mutually reinforcing, they can also, in other cases, be dysfunctional, fragmented and unfair to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses qualitative methods to examine the challenges faced by authoritarian regimes in managing rumors during public crises, focusing on the Urumqi government’s (the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China) response to COVID-19 lockdown rumors. The analysis identifies four factors contributing to the failure of government debunking communication: Rejection due to Negative Past Experiences, Discourse Reinterpretation by Mismatched Criteria, Disregard Toward Inflexible Statements, and Opposition Arising from Perceived Superficial Efforts. These factors culminate in a core mechanism termed ‘Emotional Resistance Anchored in Distrust,’ highlighting how negative past experiences shape public distrust and foster resistance to government communication. The findings challenge the assumption of automatic public trust in authoritarian contexts and underscore the importance of aligning government actions with public needs and expectations, particularly during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the prominence of social networks since the second decade of the twenty-first century, online reputation has become essential for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The University of Chile, a public institution, faced a reputational communication crisis at the end of 2022 due to the disclosure on X (formerly Twitter) of two theses that relativized the concept of pedophilia. This situation raised questions about ethical integrity and permissiveness in academic research at the HEI. The research employed a qualitative methodological approach, complemented by descriptive quantitative data. The study unfolded in two distinct phases. Initially, a comprehensive review of comments on X related to the controversy was conducted. Subsequently, the comments were systematically compiled and organized in a table, and the content was downloaded from the Export Comments platform. From a pool of 4,680 messages, a representative sample of 500 comments was selected. In the second phase, the comments were meticulously categorized using the qualitative analysis tool Atlas.ti23, providing a robust and systematic approach to the research. The results showed high disapproval by X users regarding the content of the theses and the university's communication management. However, this did not directly alter the institutional reputation of the university, although it did influence the external public's perception of the professors and the organization's internal environment. The research concludes that the comments in X revealed a scarce presence of protocols on the part of the university for evaluating academic projects in the humanities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The profound impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led to an increased demand for sustainable pandemic governance practices. This study explored emerging hybrid governance practices that provide robust evidence on how to address the complex challenges of pandemics effectively. South Korea, which was severely affected by COVID-19, has implemented a novel governance approach using a whole-of-nation (WoN) model. This hybrid pandemic governance approach, which integrates both whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches, has enabled synergistic and cohesive multi-sectoral coordination among all stakeholders (public authorities, private enterprises, and civil society) to address multifaceted challenges collectively and strengthen their resilience capacity. This study investigated South Korea's WoN practices and their embedded context and identified key governance enablers facilitating this approach. Methods: This study employed a case study design based on an extensive analysis of policy and program documents, drawing on South Korea's publicly available data from January 1, 2020 to March 30, 2023. It assessed six system-level collaborative pandemic governance practices and key enablers, all of which were intended to fortify the country's pandemic response. Results: The primary areas of the country's WoN governance practices for COVID-19 control were (i) whole-of-government policy-making and response, (ii) COVID-19 testing system, (iii) digital surveillance of COVID-19, (iv) COVID-19 triage and treatment system, (v) domestic vaccine production, and (vi) community engagement. Key governance enablers for implementing the WoN model were establishing a legal foundation, ensuring decisive and strong governance and leadership, increasing public investment, applying a whole-of-health approach with augmented investment in public health, enhancing crisis communication, and mobilizing local leaders and civil society organizations in the national public health response. Conclusions: In exploring innovative approaches to pandemic governance for increased efficacy, responsiveness, and impact, the WoN approach emerged as highly relevant. This example of emerging practice allows policy-makers to re-evaluate their governance strategies and initiatives to improve multi-agency partnerships across the country in their pandemic-preparedness planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of one of three sources of information: a politician (authority figure), a physician (expert), and an ordinary person (non-expert) who appeared in a personal story related to a controversial issue (COVID-19 vaccination) on Facebook, on the willingness to engage with it. Using a between-subjects experiment (N = 848) conducted among Israeli adults (18 and older), we found a higher likelihood of sharing the story in interpersonal conversations than in other types of communications, regardless of the source that appeared in the story. However, respondents with high levels of institutional trust preferred sharing a politician's story, while conspiracy believers tended to comment on an ordinary person's story. The findings of the different patterns of communication behavior among conspiracy believers and people with high trust in political institutes contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the spread of misinformation in the digital age and during times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media have become essential for crisis communication. While past research has focused on their role in corporate communication, studies largely ignored how public organizations use social media. Among these, the police are a particularly relevant case due to their responsibilities in society. Using a sequential mixed-methods design that combines qualitative interviews with an automated content analysis, this study analyzes how the German police use social media during community (e.g. mass shootings) and organizational -level crises (e.g. misdemeanors within the police). The results demonstrate that Twitter and Facebook are the primary platforms for crisis communication, with their unique affordances shaping the communicative styles of the police. We also find police communication strategies to differ between the two crisis types. During community-level crises, the main goal of the police is to provide information in a largely unidirectional manner, while communication during organizational-level crises is more dialogue-oriented to prevent reputational damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are significant contributors culturally, socially, and economically, but little research has focused on their response to organizational crises. Research has been quickly documenting impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on different sectors, but again less so for NPOs. This is significant because research and recommendations developed in one sector (such as for-profit corporations) may not translate to others (such as NPOs). NPOs are particularly vulnerable, due to their dependence on public financial support and demands on their resources during crises. We report on a unique and unfortunate opportunity to assess response dynamics from a half year before (2019) and a half year after (2020) the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We draw on a unique dataset combining surveys at two points in time, Twitter use data, and financial information, from 578 NPOs to develop a general model (grounded in the discourse of renewal theory) of five sources of influence (communication, organizational resources, crisis experience, crisis management, crisis impacts) on three types of strategic responses by nonprofits (retrenchment, persevering, and innovating) to COVID-19. Higher levels of communication, crisis experience, and crisis management all predicted greater tendencies for persevering and innovating in response to COVID-19. The implications for research and practice include extending crisis communication research to the nonprofit sector and demonstrating how NPOs can strengthen themselves to recover from COVID-19 or the next crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A crisis can happen to a company that can potentially damage its reputation. But if the crisis can be handled properly, the crisis will not be detrimental to the company. In this study, the author discusses the Daop 2 Bandung Public Relations Crisis Communication Strategy in the case study of the Turangga - CL Bandung Raya Train Accident using a qualitative method with descriptive presentation, while the analysis obtained through interviews with one informant, observation and documentation data. The purpose of this study is to find out the crisis communication steps and efforts taken by Daop 2 Bandung Public Relations in dealing with crisis situations caused by train accidents. The results of the study show that KAI Public Relations has made several efforts to maintain the company's image, namely: First, PT KAI's pre-crisis applies the principle of zero accident by improving employee competence and discipline as well as maintaining facilities and infrastructure. Second, the crisis of PT KAI collaborates with stakeholders, provides solutions, is quick to respond in serving the media by preparing accurate data and fact information. Third, post-crisis improves the image by compensating employees and accident victims and conducting evaluations to improve railway safety and security in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the research team reexamined the relationship between resource allocation and crisis experience, on both crisis planning and crisis communications, 12 years after the original study completed by Pennington-Gray et al. The goal was to determine how time mediated the relationship between the two independent variables and the outcome variables. The passage of time seemed to have a tangible impact on both dependent variables. With time, there was an evident change in variables, suggesting that organizations learn, adapt, and modify their strategies based on prior experiences and changing circumstances. Prior experiences with crises play a crucial role in crisis planning and crisis communications. Having faced crises in the past furnishes organizations with insights and knowledge that aid in more detailed planning and communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active shooter events involving an armed perpetrator(s) on campus are one of the main risks facing K-12 schools. Defined as planning for and responding to emergency situations, emergency or crisis management allows for an 'acceptable' level of risk to be achieved. This paper will go through the four principles of emergency management, detailing what each stage involves and how it can reduce risk. The first of these is mitigation, which prevents crises occurring in the first place. Effective risk and threat assessment are pertinent to this stage. Secondly, there is preparedness, which enhances the capacity of an organization to respond to various incidents. This involves drafting emergency management plans and practicing these to ensure readiness to respond. The next principle is responding to a crisis, denoting the actions taken during and immediately after a crisis, should one transpire. The final facet of emergency management planning is recovery, referring to the short-to-long-term phase of restoring a community following an incident. This paper will share insights obtained from a recent event, The Briefings, held by the I Love U Guys foundation, one of the leading school safety organizations in the United States. Specifically, the paper will focus on a possible training approach to active shooter events and other emergencies, the organization's emergency management framework called the 'Standard Response Protocol'. Additionally, this paper will incorporate relevant scholarly readings in order to provide an introduction to the topic of emergency management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explores the South Korean Deaf community's response to sign language interpreting during the COVID‐19 (coronavirus disease 2019) health crisis, focusing on individual factors affecting the signers' comprehension. The data were collected from a mobile‐based questionnaire survey conducted among 401 Deaf adults; binary probit modelling was adopted to analyse the data. The major findings are: (i) 59.9 per cent of the respondents understood less than 70 per cent of the interpreting; (ii) males and urban residents tend to understand better; (iii) younger people (less than 50 years) and signers with a Bachelor's degree or higher are likely to have lower comprehension; and (iv) Deaf adults who visited a doctor after the COVID‐19 outbreak tended to have lower comprehension. The findings demonstrate that individual characteristics, including age, impact significantly on the extent to which Deaf individuals understand the sign language interpreting of COVID‐19 information, indicating that steps are needed to achieve a Deaf‐inclusive society during a health disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People with serious mental health problems (SMHP) are more likely to be admitted to psychiatric hospital following contact with crisis services. Admissions can have significant personal costs, be traumatic and are the most expensive form of mental health care. There is an urgent need for treatments to reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviours and reduce avoidable psychiatric admissions. Methods: A multi-stage, multi-arm (MAMS) randomised controlled trial (RCT) with four arms conducted over two stages to determine the clinical and cost effectiveness of three psychosocial treatments, compared to treatment as usual (TAU), for people with SMHP who have had recent suicidal crisis. Primary outcome is any psychiatric hospital admissions over a 6-month period. We will assess the impact on suicidal thoughts and behaviour, hope, recovery, anxiety and depression. The remote treatments delivered over 3 months are structured peer support (PREVAIL); a safety planning approach (SAFETEL) delivered by assistant psychologists; and a CBT-based suicide prevention app accessed via a smartphone (BrighterSide). Recruitment is at five UK sites. Stage 1 includes an internal pilot with a priori progression criteria. In stage 1, the randomisation ratio was 1:1:1:2 in favour of TAU. This has been amended to 2:2:3 in favour of TAU following an unplanned change to remove the BrighterSide arm following the release of efficacy data from an independent RCT. Randomisation is via an independent remote web-based randomisation system using randomly permuted blocks, stratified by site. An interim analysis will be performed using data from the first 385 participants from PREVAIL, SAFETEL and TAU with outcome data at 6 months. If one arm is dropped for lack of benefit in stage 2, the allocation ratio of future participants will be 1:1. The expected total sample size is 1064 participants (1118 inclusive of BrighterSide participants). Discussion: There is a need for evidence-based interventions to reduce psychiatric admissions, via reduction of suicidality. Our focus on remote delivery of established brief psychosocial interventions, utilisation of different modalities of delivery that can provide sustainable and scalable solutions, which are also suitable for a pandemic or national crisis context, will significantly advance treatment options. Trial registration: ISRCTN33079589. Registered on June 20, 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study examines crisis communication during a series of racial incidents at the University of Oklahoma (OU) using the discourse of renewal theory and corporate responsibility to race (CRR) theory. Crisis messaging analysis showed organizational learning, ethical communication, prospective vision, and engaging rhetoric differences. OU’s crisis messaging differed greatly from its mission statement’s DEI goals. Conversely, several campus organizations more successfully communicated relationship management and emotional intelligence than OU. Comparison to preceding leadership during previous racial incidents showed stakeholders perceived previous racial incidents were better handled. Our study expands on discourse of renewal and CRR by showing key stakeholders – students, faculty, staff, and alumni – want racial incidents handled swiftly and decisively, with a clear university-level commitment to DEI efforts. In a U.S. higher education climate fraught with anti-DEI sentiment and tense racial relations this study shows the responsibility of leadership in responding to racial crises and stakeholder-preferred responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding audiences' information-seeking behaviors during a societal crisis it vital for effective crisis communication. Prior research has identified how individuals combine information sources during a specific crisis phase. However, there is a lack of studies analyzing the stability of such behavior across phases. Therefore, this study utilizes a four-wave panel study conducted in Sweden (N = 13,718) to examine information-seeking repertoires and potential drivers across phases with different threat severity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results from a cross-sectional latent class analysis revealed four main types of information-seeking repertoires: pluralists, traditionalists, minimalists, and news junkies. Specifically, the findings show that individuals with different socio-demographic profiles broaden their information-seeking repertoire when threat severity is high, making socio-demographic factors a poor predictor of repertoire breadth. Instead, mainstream media trust seems to play a more important role as a potential predictor of broad information-seeking repertoires including non-mainstream sources. The dynamic nature of the repertoires cautions scholars not to make generalization about information-seekers and their characteristics across different phases of a crisis and underline the importance of future research to focus on factors beyond socio-demographics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to extend our understanding of the concept of crisis leadership based on perceptions of 48 Australian leaders drawn from various sectors including Australian politics, higher education, not-for-profit and corporate sectors. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative study employed semi-structured virtual interviews of 48 leaders from Australian politics, higher education, not-for-profit and corporate sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Leximancer text analytics program was used for data analysis. Findings: Participants perceived effective leadership during a crisis as encompassing four macro themes: leadership as power, leadership as emanating from people, leadership as management and leadership as specific to the organization. While these findings reinforced extant literature on facets of effective leadership, leaders from different sectors differed on the relative importance of some leadership themes and their relevance to specific sectors. Research limitations/implications: While the data were collected from a convenient sample, our findings from multiple sectors in Australia extend our knowledge on crisis leadership by revealing differences in sectorial perspectives of crisis leadership. Further, these findings help refine the extant traditional explanations of leadership and especially offer an enhanced understanding of leadership during a crisis. Consequently, our findings support future research that could help identify specific attributes of leaders navigating organizational crises. Such future research could subsequently help develop a theory on crisis leadership based on a valid and reliable measurement for assessing crisis leadership effectiveness in diverse organizational settings. Originality/value: Our study is based on multi-sector data and consequently lays a solid foundation for extending the conceptualization of leadership during crisis, and the need to reconceptualize effective leader attributes useful in crisis contexts. Theoretically, the current study extended recent research on crisis leadership, by examining the conceptualizations of crisis leadership within specific Australian sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid change of information environment, this study explored the relevance of the Coast Guard Public Affairs Service (CGPAS) in executing the functions of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). The research highlights the essential skills of Public Affairs Officers (PAOs) in these areas: Media Relations, Public Information Dissemination, and Social Media Management in promoting a positive image of the PCG. The study utilized survey and interview to gather data from 40 PAOs, majority with the rank of Ensigns, with at least six months PAO experience; 84 Heads of Offices (HOs), who were mostly Captains; and four Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in Public Affairs, Education, and Training, all from the PCG. Results revealed that PAOs, HOs and SMEs concurred on the crucial role of CGPAS in the execution of PCG functions, particularly in crisis communication and public image promotion. In terms of skill levels of PAOs, the overall scenario-based exam results coincided with the overall HO's perception. Both were equivalent to Competent, based on the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition. The study also identified challenges faced by PAOs, including role overload from multiple designations and inadequate resources such as office space, trained spokesperson and PA equipment. Recommendations included providing better equipment, comprehensive trainings on crisis communication, news writing and cybersecurity, fostering organizational collaboration, and recruiting specialists. Finally, a Course Instructional Guide for Public Affairs Officers was developed and proposed for adoption and implementation to hone their effectiveness in promoting the PCG's mission and functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) provides forecasts on the expected presence of volcanic ash in the atmosphere to mitigate the risk to aviation. It is fundamentally important that operational capability is regularly tested through exercises, to guarantee an effective response to an event. We have developed exercises which practise the pull-through of scientific advice into the London VAAC, the forecast evaluation process, and the decision-making procedures and discussions needed for generating the best possible forecasts under real-time conditions. London VAAC dispersion model forecasts are evaluated against observations. To test this capability in an exercise, we must create observation data for a hypothetical event. We have developed new methodologies for generating and using simulated satellite and lidar retrievals. These simulated observations enable us to practise our ability to interpret, compare, and evaluate model output and observation data under real-time conditions. Forecast evaluation can benefit from an understanding of how different choices of model setup (input parameters), model physics, and driving meteorological data impact the predicted extent and concentration of ash. Through our exercises, we have practised comparing output from model simulations generated using different models, model setups, and meteorological data, supplied by different institutions. Our exercises also practise the communication and interaction between Met Office (UK) scientists supporting the London VAAC and external experts, enabling knowledge exchange and discussions on the interpretation of model output and observations, as we strive to deliver the best response capability for the aviation industry and stakeholders. In this paper, we outline our exercise methodology, including the use of simulated satellite and lidar observations, and the development of the strategy to compare output generated from different modelling systems. We outline the lessons learnt, including the benefits and challenges of conducting exercises which practise our ability to provide scientific advice for an operational response at the London VAAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oregon's Almeda Fire destroyed over 2,000 residences and displaced thousands of people who evacuated with little warning or guidance from official or traditional media sources. Results of this social network analysis of 12,193 tweets from the active stage of the crisis show a clear clustered network structure, with citizens playing a more influential role in crisis information diffusion than government or media accounts. Additionally, some of the most widely shared information from nonlocal media accounts was misinformed or inaccurate. Findings suggest that crisis leaders should work to cultivate relationships with influential citizen journalists in wildfire-prone areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the Anointing of the Sick (AOS), one of the Roman Catholic Church's sacraments, administered when individuals are in poor health, facing a major medical procedure, and/or facing death. As recovery is unknown at the time tie of AOS, we studied AOS as a final conversation (FC; Keeley, 2004, 2007, Keeley & Generous, 2017). Based on surveys from US Priests, primarily located in the Northeast, we identified the FC topics discussed between Priests, families, and the sick/dying during AOS. Findings underscore the significance of studying EOL communication in the Catholic Church and its applicability in Priestly formation. This work informs Keeley's FC theme of messages of religious faith/spiritual beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last century, cognitive linguistics has drawn attention to the relevance of metaphor as a cognitive phenomenon when it comes to understanding reality, as well as its ability to project a certain image on the concepts we are talking about. Hence the importance of its role in the construction of political discourses, since, with it, an interested vision of what is transmitted can be showed. Aware of this, in this study we have analyzed the cognitive metaphors used by the different Spanish political leaders in their interventions in the Congress of Deputies during the first wave of the pandemic at 2020. We have studied the different cognitive metaphors used in their speeches by the representatives of each political group, and we have related them to their position regarding the action carried out by the Government in response to the spread of the coronavirus in our country, especially in relation to the declaration of the State of Alarm. In this way, we have verified how the different uses of the metaphor were used to legitimize the decisions made by the Government, and by the opposition to structure the criticisms made against the government proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A philosophical and communication shift is needed in river management if we are to meet sustainable development goals and tackle environmental challenges brought about by ongoing anthropogenic and climate change. In some parts of the world, recovery‐enhancement approaches to river management have been adopted, communicated and used for many years. At the heart of these approaches lies an understanding of the biogeomorphic forms, processes and evolutionary trajectories of rivers that differs philosophically from notions of restoration, rewilding or creation of a utopian natural state. Instead, recovery‐enhancement approaches aim to improve the biogeomorphic condition of rivers, recognising that they are dynamic entities and new evolutionary trajectories and novel ecosystems are being created that are now part of the environment. Accepting shifting baselines and moving targets is inherent as boundary conditions (water, sediment and vegetation interactions) continue to be altered under the influence of anthropogenic and climate change, and the impacts of 'unprecedented' wildfires, floods, heatwaves and drought are manifested on the ground. The river management sector has not yet fully adapted to this reality with large amounts of applied science and on‐ground practice still focussed on restoration, re‐engineering and rewilding, words which in themselves produce a false impression of the aims, visions and achievability of river management. Embracing recovery‐enhancement approaches to river management requires a conscious shift in communication strategies and terminology to present more realistic expectations and possibilities for river condition improvement, a responsibility that is incumbent upon us, the scientists and practitioners, who work in the applied science and river management profession. In this Short Communication, I use a case study from eastern Australia to illustrate what biogeomorphic river recovery can look like. I use this to discuss the potential for adoption of a recovery‐enhancement approach to river management more broadly, and call on scientists and practitioners to make a conscious philosophical and communications shift when working in applied science and river management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study examines the interplay between media-induced emotional crisis framing (anger vs sadness) and message sidedness of crisis response on publics' attribution of crisis responsibility as well as subsequent company evaluation and supportive behavioral intention. Design/methodology/approach: A 2 (emotion: anger vs sadness) x 2 (crisis response: one-sided vs two-sided) online experiment was conducted among 161 participants in the USA. Findings: Results showed that anger-inducing media framing of the crisis elicited higher levels of crisis responsibility attribution and more negative company evaluation, compared with sadness-inducing media framing. One-sided message response was more effective than two-sided message response in lowering attribution of crisis responsibility when sadness was induced, but no difference was found under the anger-induced condition. Attribution of crisis responsibility fully mediated the effects of emotional crisis framing on company evaluation and supportive behavioral intention toward the company. Originality/value: This study is among the first to examine the interaction effect between emotional media framing and response message sidedness in an ambiguous crisis. Drawing on the interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks, this study integrates the situational crisis communication theory, appraisal-tendency framework and message sidedness in persuasion literature. As such, it contributes to theoretical development in crisis communication and offers communication managers guidance on how to effectively address emotionally framed crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of mankind is replete with movements of human beings across our large planet. People moved or were forced to move because they could no longer live at one place in peace and stability. Wars and famines were common reasons to uproot the tents and move on to greener pastures but there were other reasons as they are still today. One of the major causes of leaving one's homeland is inter-tribal or inter-ethnic rivalry and the other is religious persecution. As we see in Middle-East or West Asia as commonly designated now, these causes are still alive and festering like unhealed wounds making people leave the safety of their homes and family for a more hospitable environment. Into this mixture of geo-politics and ideologies promoted by the super-powers, a complex situation has become more complicated leading countries to take sides and fight proxy wars. The 'migrants' and 'refugees' streamed in via various routes especially by crossing the Mediterranean. Whether these asylum seekers could be classified as migrants or refugees is contentious. One study examines how the very concepts of 'migrant' and 'refugee' are used in different contexts, and introduces questions about mobility, citizenship and the nation state. The media and the press continued to refer to the people leaving conflict zones as migrants looking for a better economic opportunity. Responsible journalists depicted refugees and their desperate situation in a balanced and sympathetic context but a majority of news media channels took the sensationalist and ideologically biased road, playing on people's anti-immigration sentiment, anxiety and fears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the first reports of the Covid-19 virus in December 2019, the tourism industry has struggled to find solutions to this unprecedented crisis. During crises, organizational learning can develop crisis management and communication skills while enhancing organizational resilience in coping with crises. This research examines whether organizational learning for communicating during crises occurred in the Swiss hotel industry in the past 2 years. By tracking and visualizing the messages communicated by Swiss hotels on their websites, this study analyzes the communication strategies employed by hoteliers over the past 20 months through thematic analysis, co-occurrence analysis, and Situational Crisis Communication (SCCT) strategies. The results of this study identified the evolution of communication strategies over time. Specifically, ingratiation, corrective action, transferring, victimization, and justification are the five key strategies. This study also visualizes the crisis responses in concept maps in three snapshots (June 2020, June 2021, and February 2022). The concepts and colors of the visualization provide a different perspective on the evolution of crisis communication over the past 2 years. This study contributes to academia and practitioners by demonstrating the evolution of crisis communication messages through both the granular analysis of SCCT strategies and the bird's-eye view of themes and concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crises were highly relevant in the 2022 Italian general election. The label of "crisis" was associated with multiple policy issues, ranging from the environment and health to foreign policy. Previous studies have extensively discussed the impact of crises on voter behavior, demonstrating that voters are particularly concerned with parties' valence attributes, such as the effectiveness of policies and leaders' ability to resolve emergencies. However, limited attention has been paid to assessing how parties mobilize the crisis paradigm on social media. This study seeks to bridge this gap by analyzing the impact of crisis-related content on Facebook user engagement, with a special focus on distinguishing the relative effectiveness of populist versus mainstream parties in deploying such narratives. Moreover, this research explores how the intertwining of crisis narratives with portrayals of party responsibility or irresponsibility influences the virality of social media posts. To answer these questions, we manually coded 4,827 election campaign posts to create an original dataset. The evidence shows that crises have an impact on boosting user engagement, although this effect seems to be limited to populist parties. The results also suggest that irresponsible claims cease to be rewarding during a crisis. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the strategic use of crisis narratives by political parties on digital platforms and underscores the complex interplay between crisis communication and public engagement in the contemporary political landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This experiment examines targeted public diplomacy message effects during a crisis, focusing on effects of whether such messages provide a targeted solidarity call that build a sense of common purpose by comparing the other country's past crises to Ukraine's current crisis. Design/methodology/approach: Using an experiment, this study investigates whether such targeting in Zelensky's speeches increased foreign public policy support for Ukraine, the perceived agenda importance of the war and Ukraine's legitimacy. Findings: The results found that a targeted solidarity call in public diplomacy messages during an international crisis helps gain foreign public policy support. However, it does not significantly impact the perceived agenda importance and the country's legitimacy. Originality/value: There has been a lack of studies on whether targeted messaging is more effective than nontargeted one in public diplomacy literature. The study's result implies that the inclusion of a solidarity call in public diplomacy messaging is more effective in achieving its strategic goal of receiving aid. This study, therefore, empirically answers the remaining question about the effectiveness of targeted messaging in public diplomacy and advances. It also advances theoretical connections among solidarity, targeted messaging and public diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Doxa Comunicación is the property of Fundacion Universitaria San Pablo - CEU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Twitter has emerged as a powerful Microblogging site in recent years. It has become one of the immediately reported platforms about any crisis in today's world. During a crisis twitter is flooded with both informational and non-informational tweets. Informational tweets are the tweets which can help humanitarian response organizations or the victims to get useful information for better decision making This paper proposes a Semantic based Ontology Infused deep learning model for Informative tweet classification during natural disasters. The proposed model makes use of both text and image features present in a tweet during a classification, a Hierarchical ensemble of Vanilla and Bi-LSTM's is used along with ontologies and external knowledge from OntoCollab for text classification, a dilated convolution-based residual neural network is used for image classification, and a meaningful statistical fusion is performed with the results obtained from text and image for tweet classification. The usage of both image and text features and contextual understanding made the model distinctive and achieved exceptional results. The proposed method has proven, after experiments, to achieve evaluation metrics better than the up-to-date existing methods; evaluated on seven different datasets and compared with eight other methods with an increase in Accuracy and decrease in FNR for seven distinguished datasets which resulted an highest F1 score of 98.416% on Sri Lanka Floods dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)