Rethinking disaster communication ecology

2021 ◽  
pp. 185-202
Author(s):  
Dennis John F. Sumaylo ◽  
Marianne D. Sison
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Communication ◽  
Communication Ecology

scholarly journals Journalists on COVID-19 Journalism: Communication Ecology of Pandemic Reporting

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422199281
Author(s):  
Mildred F. Perreault ◽  
Gregory P. Perreault
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Disaster Communication ◽  
Communication Ecology ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Trade Press

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists have the challenging task of gathering and distributing accurate information. Journalists exist as a part of an ecology in which their work influences and is influenced by the environment that surrounds it. Using the framework of disaster communication ecology, this study explores the discursive construction of journalism during the COVID-19 crisis. To understand this process in the field of journalism, we unpacked discourses concerning the coronavirus pandemic collected from interviews with journalists during the pandemic and from the U.S. journalism trade press using the Discourses of Journalism Database. Through discourse analysis, we discovered that during COVID-19 journalists discursively placed themselves in a responsible but vulnerable position within the communication ecology—not solely as a result of the pandemic but also from environmental conditions that long preceded it. Journalists found their reporting difficult during the pandemic and sought to mitigate the forces challenging their work as they sought to reverse the flow of misinformation.

scholarly journals Organizational Disaster Communication Ecology: Examining Interagency Coordination on Social Media During the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422199282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenlin Liu ◽  
Weiai (Wayne) Xu ◽  
Burton John
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
Disaster Communication ◽  
Public Health Departments ◽  
Interagency Coordination ◽  
Communication Ecology ◽  
Local Coordination ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Practical Implications

Interagency coordination is crucial for effective multiagency disaster management. Viewing government and emergency management organizations as vital components of citizens’ disaster communication ecology, this study examines how a group of Texas-based public health departments and emergency management offices engaged in interagency coordination during different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. By analyzing coronavirus-related agency tweets between early February and the end of August 2020, the study assesses two types of interagency coordination: (1) content-level coordination in the form of semantic similarity among the selected public agencies serving different jurisdictions and (2) relational-level coordination in terms of referencing common stakeholders through retweeting coronavirus-related information. Using a granular, four-stage construct of a crisis, results identify stage-based variation with regard to peer-to-peer and federal-to-local coordination. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications for communication ecology and disaster management.

Citizen Disaster Communication Assessment

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew L. Spialek ◽  
J. Brian Houston
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Communication ◽  
Communication Assessment

scholarly journals International Perspectives on COVID-19 Communication Ecologies: Public Health Agencies’ Online Communication in Italy, Sweden, and the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422199283
Author(s):  
Serena Tagliacozzo ◽  
Frederike Albrecht ◽  
N. Emel Ganapati
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Communication Ecology ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
National Public Health

Communicating during a crisis can be challenging for public agencies as their communication ecology becomes increasingly complex while the need for fast and reliable public communication remains high. Using the lens of communication ecology, this study examines the online communication of national public health agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Sweden, and the United States. Based on content analysis of Twitter data ( n = 856) and agency press releases ( n = 95), this article investigates two main questions: (1) How, and to what extent, did national public health agencies coordinate their online communication with other agencies and organizations? (2) How was online communication from the agencies diversified in terms of targeting specific organizations and social groups? Our findings indicate that public health agencies relied heavily on internal scientific expertise and predominately coordinated their communication efforts with national government agencies. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that agencies in each country differed in how they diversify information; however, all agencies provided tailored information to at least some organizations and social groups. Across the three countries, information tailored for several vulnerable groups (e.g., pregnant women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and homeless populations) was largely absent, which may contribute to negative consequences for these groups.

Community-based disaster communication: how does it become trustworthy?

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwie Irmawaty Gultom
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Response ◽  
Information Diffusion ◽  
Weak Ties ◽  
Network Ties ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Disaster Communication ◽  
Disaster Information

Purpose – Trust in disaster communication is significant because a lack of trust will prevent the transformation of information into usable knowledge for an effective disaster response. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how the culture and network ties of an affected community can encourage trust and participation in disaster communication. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative case study of Jalin Merapi (JM) was conducted by interviewing 33 research participants in the Mt Merapi surroundings. Findings – The findings indicate that culture-embedded disaster communication plays important roles in increasing the effectiveness of disaster information and encouraging trust in the authenticity of locally based disaster information at the individual level. The findings also identify that strong ties and weak ties play different roles in disaster communication. The strong ties are more effective in facilitating information diffusion and encourage trust and community participation within the affected community. Furthermore, the weak ties are more effective in disseminating information to wider audiences, and have an indirect influence in encouraging trust by extending the offline social network owned by the affected community. Originality/value – Most literature on disaster communication focusses on the construction of disaster messages to encourage effective disaster response. Less attention has been paid to the information receivers regarding how disaster information is considered to be trustworthy by the affected community and how it can increase collective participation in community-based disaster communication.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document