Covid-19: Learning & Consequences for International Crisis Communication Research
Friday, 5 February, 2021 from 4-6pm CET (10am-12pm EST)
The coronavirus pandemic has been a disruptive and tragic experience for societies around the world. For the crisis communication community, the pandemic doubtlessly is an issue of overwhelming importance, calling for academic and professional exchange and new research initiatives that reach beyond national borders. In order to create an opportunity to come together at this important point in the ongoing crisis, we would like to invite you to an online session involving keynotes and discussions on the following questions:
- What have we learned from our observations of crisis communication during the pandemic by governments, organizations, health experts, media, and stakeholders around the world?
- What are the consequences crisis researchers and practitioners need to draw from this pandemic? What is—or should be—on the research agenda for the next years?
Click here to view the presentations from the session. For more detailed information on the topics addressed by Philippe Borremans (President IPRA), Yan Jin (University of Georgia), Matthew Seeger (Wayne State University), and Andreas Schwarz (Ilmenau University of Technology), please download the event flyer.
Scandinavian Pandemic Response
Friday, 5 March from 4-6pm CET (10am-12pm EST)
The Nordic countries are in many ways similar in terms of political and media system. Nevertheless, they have chosen different strategies in managing the corona virus pandemic. Denmark, Norway and Finland followed many other countries in “shutting down” the society, combined with widespread testing and tracing infection contacts. Sweden chose a somewhat different strategy in rejecting lockdown and focus in “flattening the curve” and in comparison to other countries had the restrictive measures a light touch and relied on citizens voluntary adapting regulations about social distancing and other measures. Crisis communication was also organized differently, not at least in that politicians played a more prominent role in communicating the crisis in Denmark, Finland and Norway. A year after the pandemic started we see very different outcomes, not at least in that Sweden has a much higher death toll compared to the other Nordic countries. The panel will discuss similarities and differences in crisis communication, crisis management, media frames, and citizen response in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
For more detailed information about the panel of speakers and session, please download the event flyer.
Click here to view the session.
Exploring a More Sustainable World: Crisis, Activism, & Stakeholders
Friday, 9 April, 2021 time 4-6pm (CET), 10am-12pm (EST)
Globally, when the COVID-19 pandemic begins to subside ‘business as usual’ will mean addressing issues of sustainability as the ‘wicked problems’ of sustainable consumer consumption, climate change, refugees, the victims left in the wake of crises and disasters become increasingly relevant to all populations. The presentations in this session will be exploring the role of communication as we forge a more sustainable world. Each of the presentations in this panel explores a different aspect of creating a more sustainable world and the intersection of stakeholder attitudes or behaviors, activism, and the role that different types of organizations will play in shaping this future. These presentations suggest there are meaningful roles for all segments of society to play from actions we can all take towards more responsible consumption to the actions that organizations can take in shaping support and care for the most vulnerable in society. We hope that you will join us for a robust and interdisciplinary discussion about developing a more sustainable world.
For more detailed information about the panel of speakers and session, please download the event flyer.
Click here to view the session.
Creating High Impact Crisis & Risk Communication Messages: Applications of the IDEA Model
Friday, 30 April, 2021 time 4-6pm (CET), 10am-12pm (EST)
Panelists, lead by Professor Deanna Sellnow (University of Central Florida) conducting risk and crisis communication research in a variety of contexts, from several global regions will discuss the challenges of communicating quickly, accurately and competently with diverse publics. The panelists will refer to the IDEA as starting point for the discussion. The IDEA model emphasizes the need for risk and crisis messages to help audiences (I) internalize or emotionally accept the risks they face, (D) the need to distribute messages through quickly accessible channels, (E) provide an explanation of the risk that matches the health or science literacy of the audience, and (A) promote practical actions diverse publics can take to protect themselves and their loved ones. For more information about the panel and panelists, click here.
After the panelists discuss their current research, they will welcome questions from the moderator and audience members.
Please note the sessions are being recorded. Presentations will last approximately 1 hour. We ask for attendees to keep their microphones and cameras off during the presentations and turn them on only to participate in the discussion after the presentations conclude.
Managing Crises in the Digital Age: Using Computational Methods to Reduce Information Overload
Friday, 4 June, 2021 time 4-6pm (CET), 10am-12pm (EST)
Recent developments in the communication ecosystem induced by the digitization of media changed the speed, scale, and impact of crisis communication as well as how publics react to crisis communication. Information about crises disseminates faster, crosses borders more often, and reaches bigger audiences. Digitization also led to a further multiplication of information during crises, which is mainly due to an abundance of user-generated content, disseminated through social media. Computational methods can help crisis communication researchers and practitioners to cope with the infodemic or information overload produced by crises in the digital age. The advantages are obvious: Computational approaches are set up quickly, deliver results almost in real-time and can be applied at large scale at low costs. However, computational approaches are often confronted with two main issues: insufficient validity and missing analytical depth. The recent focus on automated methods has led to an underestimation of more traditional approaches based on manual analysis, especially when it comes to validation and sensemaking of automatically gathered datasets. In the panel we address this question and discuss how computational methods can be applied and calibrated as well as combined with established quantitative and qualitative research methods to gain deeper insights in digital crisis communication. Click here for a full summary of the presentations.
After the panelists present, they will welcome questions from the moderator and audience members.
Please note the sessions are being recorded. Presentations will last approximately 1 hour. We ask for attendees to keep their microphones and cameras off during the presentations and turn them on only to participate in the discussion after the presentations conclude.
Risk & Crisis Communication 