Journal of Professional Communication

JPC Editorial Advisory Board 2012

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:01:02 PDT

Listing of members of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Professional Communication.

Social media and crisis: the challenge of currency (Review of The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management: How to Manage the Media in the Digital Age by Jane Jordan-Meier)

Heather Pullen — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:40:30 PDT

This book review of The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management: How to Manage the Media in the Digital Age (CRC Press, 2011, 283 pages) discusses the inherent challenges of providing media relations advice in an era when social media is forcing communicators to re-invent their approach to crisis communications. The author points out that the rapid, ongoing evolution of social media itself makes the prediction of trends and development of crisis communication strategies very difficult. She acknowledges, however, that Jordan-Meier has effectively applied a media management methodology that should remain relevant and useful in the face of change.

The tortoise wins the race (Review of Lessons for Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Toyota Under Fire: How Toyota Faced the Challenges of the Recall and the Recession to Come Out Stronger by Jeffery K. Liker and Timothy N. Ogden)

Wendy McLean-Cobban — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:40:28 PDT

This critical book review of Lessons for Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Toyota Under Fire: How Toyota Faced the Challenges of the Recall and the Recession to Come Out Stronger (Thousand Oaks, 2011, 241 pages) examines how from 2008 through 2010 the perfect storm of occurrences including the recession, recalls, and intense media and U.S. government scrutiny resulted in a series of crises for the Toyota Motor Company. The author comments on how public relations and the framework for crisis communications played (or did not play) a role in Toyota’s three phases in dealing with the crisis: reaction, containment and opportunity.

Looking for the silver lining (Review of “Effective crisis communications: Moving from crisis to opportunity (2nd ed.)” by Robert Ulmer, Timothy Sellnow and Matthew Seeger)

Susan Emigh — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:40:25 PDT

This is a review of the second edition of the book Effective crisis communications: Moving from crisis to opportunity (2^nd ed.) (Sage, 2011, 228 pages) by three university professors who have several books about crisis communications under their belt. The reviewer follows their examination of how to manage uncertainty and communicate and lead effectively during the heavy weather of crises, followed by a look at specific storms big and small, and wraps up by examining their theory of "discourse of renewal”, the potential for clear skies beyond for renewal and growth.

Not just chick lit: How contemporary fiction conveys crisis communications (Review of Damage Control by Denise Hamilton)

Stephanie Brooks — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:40:23 PDT

A review and critique of Denise Hamilton’s work of fiction, Damage Control (Scribner, 2011, 384 pages). This analysis shares insight on some of the novel’s overriding themes of journalism, gender and ethics and their relationship with crisis communications. Through an examination of the main character, it reveals the differences and similarities between Hamilton’s version of celebrity crisis management and representations of the field in popular culture. The novel portrays a version of perception management that is difficult, dirty and dangerous, but deeply satisfying – a concept that differs from what film and television depictions prove. Hamilton’s riveting and page-turning work piques readers’ curiosity into a murder mystery that involves politics, secrecy, relationships, rape and the strategies the female protagonist uses in her responsibility to reduce the damage.

The Structuration of Crisis Management: Guiding a Process of Repair

Erin Schauster — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:40:22 PDT

Crisis management, specifically the communicative response to a threatening event, is intended to both inform and persuade. However, the approaches to crisis management may be contradictory at times, constraining the intended purpose of repairing a corporation’s image. Structuration theory provides a perspective for the enabling and constraining features of action as well as the unintended consequences that occur. Through a rhetorical criticism of press releases issued by BP in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the enabling and constraining features of crisis management are presented and a call to revisit best practices in crisis management is made.

Risk Communication and the Disclosure Dilemma: The Case of Ottawa's Endoscopy Infection 'Scare'

Josh Greenberg — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:40:21 PDT

In 2011, Ottawa Public Health announced that a non-hospital medical clinic had failed to follow proper infection control measures over a period of 10 years, resulting in the potential exposure of several thousand patients to Hepatitis and HIV. This paper discusses the health department's risk communication strategy, in particular its decision to delay the disclosure of information to the public and the reactions this provoked. The case study provides an opportunity to revisit several key themes: the role news media play in framing public health risk events; the ethical obligations that health communicators have in times of health risk or crisis; the practical limitations that often impose themselves in these circumstances; and how changes in media technology are transforming the landscape for risk communication today and the implications of these changes in the future.

Into the crisis vortex: Managing and communicating issues, risks and crises

Terence (Terry) Flynn — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:40:19 PDT

This article provides a discussion of the growing importance of crisis communications in communications management practice. Using celebrated examples to set the scene, such as the BP oil spill, Toyota, SARS and the Japanese tsunami, the author describes how crisis communications can be a factor in making organizations more cost effective given the high reputational and legal cost of crises. The author also discusses the distinction between tactics and strategy and how the crisis communications research agenda must move to focus more specifically on crisis preparedness and management.

Recalling Toyota’s Crisis: Utilizing the Discourse of Renewal

Lindsey Anderson — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:40:17 PDT

This case study applies the theoretical framework of the discourse of renewal to Toyota’s lingering crisis (safety recalls) in order to understand how this approach is utilized as well as to demonstrate the appropriateness of the response. The discourse of renewal is a rhetorical crisis communication strategy that attempts to frame a crisis event as an organizational opportunity and tends to focus on the future rather than the past. In this case study, six commercials produced by Toyota were analyzed using these overarching principles associated with the discourse of renewal. Results indicate that this approach was utilized in Toyota’s crisis communication and appear to have been an appropriate response to the crisis. Further analysis also reveals that the overarching themes associated with the discourse of renewal (opportunities and the future) need to be expanded in order to account for the historical elements that contextualize the crisis and the existing image of the organization.

PR Lessons From The Ocean Ranger Tragedy

Sean Kelly — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:40:14 PDT

This commentary discusses the Ocean Ranger accident that happened on Valentine’s Day in 1982, which created a crisis of significant proportions for the Ocean Drilling Exploration Company (ODECO) which designed and owned the ship and Mobil Oil of Canada which leased the Ocean Ranger to drill for oil in the harsh offshor environment of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Despite being referred to by many as the “Ocean Danger,” the oil rig was described as unsinkable - a name that nature would prove to be a reckless test of fate. Using personal narrative as the basis for describing the impact of the Ocean Ranger disaster, the author, a seasoned professional communicator discusses how the crisis was communicated as well as what could have been better and more ethically.