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Addressing Catastrophes Through Communication Science

H. Dan O'Hair, Daniel P. Chaney, and Mary John O'Hair

University of Kentucky

Generating good science is a worthy goal among people who want to develop new ideas and processes that are exciting and novel, but the real value lies in science being applied in circumstances or contexts that can elevate conditions and states in the status quo. Science has limited value if it is not used, if it is not communicated to others. Unfortunately, there are too many scientists who feel they are either unskillful at communicating their science to others or believe communicating scientific findings is someone else's job (O'Hair & O'Hair, 2021, p. 3).

Introduction

It is believed that the term "catastrophe" was first used in the 1530's as a Greek expression to mean "reversal of what is expected . to overturn, turn down, trample on, to come to an end" (Online Etymological Dictionary, 2022). More recently, catastrophe refers to a host of extreme events both natural and human-related. As one of the chapters in this volume quotes from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, "At the national level, a catastrophic incident is one of such extreme and remarkable severity or magnitude that the Nation's collective capability to manage all response requirements would be overwhelmed, thereby posing potential threats to national security, national economic security, and/or the public health and safety of the Nation" (see Chapter 5). Other associated terms are employed to refer to similar causes and consequences in the same realm as catastrophes. Table 1.1 below describes many of these more common terms.

As one could quickly surmise, the overlap and interchangeability of these terms with each other is easy to observe, and especially with catastrophe, yet catastrophe was chosen as the contextual term for this book due to its seemingly broader encapsulation of a myriad of issues and contexts.

Table 1.1 Terms Related to Catastrophes.

• Johnson & Johnson Tylenol case
• Hurricane Katrina
• Exxon Valdez
• Climate change
• Ukraine-Russian conflict

• Floods
• Tornedos
• Wildfires
• Hurricanes
• Avalanches

• Blizzards
• Tsunamis
• Earthquakes
• Floods

• Heat waves
• Strong storms
• Widespread flooding
• Hurricanes
• Droughts

• Chemical
• Biological
• Radiological
• Nuclear agents
• Catastrophic health events

• Dust explosions
• Aircraft crashes
• Oil/gas explosions
• Refinery and offshore explosions

• Malware
• Phishing
• Man-in-the-middle attack
• Denial-of-service attack

Strategic Risk and Crisis Management

Introduction

Focusing on risk and crisis communication may provide insight into the source of the message more than it does the audience: are they trying to arm people with response plans? Avoid panic runs at the grocery store? Reassure the population despite an absence of certainty or knowledge? We found that dissecting the message in the search for its intent is as difficult as trying to parse what the message(s) meant or were supposed to mean. The relative personal impact from the Delta variant, seemingly far worse than the Omicron variant and subvariants, made distinguishing risk vs. crisis very difficult (Heath & O'Hair, 2009). We are wary of falling for the trap of risk only becoming real when it becomes personal. Furthermore, the distinctions among care, crisis, and consensus communications (Lundgren & McMakin, 2013) became even more blurred thanks to COVID-19. These distinctions were helpful to show an early imbalance: COVID care communication was at its infancy and consensus was elusive, leaving crisis communication as the bulk of what was communication science.

In the following sections, we briefly examine some noteworthy theories and concepts that discuss risk and crisis communication. First, the role of concepts and theory in risk and crisis contexts is examined, followed by a section on the social amplification of risk (SARF) theory that is intended to help distinguish between risks and crises. The following section focuses on the precautionary principle ("erring on the side of caution"). The section examines the role of science communication during risk and crisis management. Subsequent sections include science communication in catastrophic events, the discourse of renewal (DoR) theory, and finally, the role of social media in risk and crisis management.

Concepts and Theory

It is common for risk and crisis communication scholars to invoke "theory" as a basis or guide for developing practical plans for managing catastrophes. Overall, we are not certain risk and crisis communication is being driven by theory at the practitioner level, despite effective frameworks and foundations being available. We have learned and will continue to learn from theories as they expand and evolve, although currently, a real-world gap persists between theory and praxis. In some cases, what is being done follows the guidance and projection of theories, particularly around the continuously emerging role of social media. However, we do not sense that risk communication theories and models are being consciously invoked by the planning and response teams before, during, or after an event. Nishizawa (2018) and Beaumont (2018) are somewhat retrospective, showing where theories and known approach did or would have made a difference, and Kamaté (2018) argues that the role of public input is important-even if it is underutilized. Nishizawa (2018) summed it up well: "However, it would not be an overstatement that the nature of effective risk communication is yet to be fully understood. As a result, risk communication is sometimes only partially integrated into risk management practice or is not considered at all" (p. 82). However, social media usage (by all stakeholders) may be a growing exception to this rule.

Social Amplification of Risk

Fellenor et al. (2020) took up the concept of SARF and the challenges around it and provided a holistic overview of the complexity of risk as it is seen by, developed for, and/or created in spite of "the public." The whole idea of creating public awareness has a chicken-and-egg problem with respect to the media: does the media draw the public's attention to an existing problem or does the media generate public's attention by...