Chapters 11 & 12

Chapter 11 emphasizes the need for setting a schedule when it comes to planning risk communications. Like with any type of communication/public relations, scheduling helps plan out the elements required and gives specific deadlines for meeting the objectives.

Legal requirements must be taken into account, especially for practitioners working at publicly held companies or government organizations. In cases (particularly crisis) when the situation is ongoing, there may be restrictions as to what you legally can and cannot say, in order to avoid any conflicts with pending litigation or to avoid revealing material information. Organizational requirements also fall under this category, especially in terms of the review process information must go through before being presented to the public. In organizations dealing with especially technical or scientific information, this is essential to ensure quality control, and the public relations practitioners must work with this group to present the information in a manner the general public can understand.

It is also essential to monitor the ongoing activities of the organization, the local area, and the nation as a whole, depending on what the risk or crisis is. As the story about the Superfund site in Alaska illustrates, it would be a shame to put a great deal of work into a public involvement campaign, only to hold it during a time when no one would be able to attend. Also appropriate (and timely, given that President Bush just presented the budget) is the quote from the authors stating that “if your organization is dependant on federal funding, and an election in which your funding is an issue is imminent, you should wait until after the election to promise funds to a citizens group to act as advisors in your risk assessment, management, and communication activities” (p.174). In an era of budgets being slashed left and right, this is an important consideration to keep in mind.

Cole’s 1993 “Birth of a Notion” perspective can be a useful one, especially within the mental models approach. This process goes through the process individuals often use when deciding how to react regarding a risk/crisis situation. The steps are:

• Dawning awareness (initial reaction)
• Sense of urgency (how does this affect me and what can I do about it?)
• Discovery of choices (looking at options available for action)
• Wishful thinking (often irrational thoughts on how to act)
• Intellectual stand (thoughts after reviewing information available)
• Responsible judgment (actions to take after weighing all information and options presented) (p.177-178).

Chapter 12 reinforces the need for a written communication plan, which is pretty obvious to us public relations folks. :-) Like a schedule (but much more comprehensive), this is your written game plan on how to proceed with risk communication, and assists you with all the necessary steps, tactics and other information. It’s easier to put together for risk communication, although crisis plans are certainly useful – you plan based on potential risks that could befall your organization (storyboarding is useful to brainstorm possible situations).

The plan’s introduction functions as an executive summary, discussing “why you are writing the plan (purpose), what kinds of activities are covered by the plan (scope), background material on the risk being communicated, the reason your organization is communicating about the risk (authority), and the purpose and objectives of your effort” (p.182).

One of the key sections of the plan is the audience profile section, in which you provide your research into all of the publics that may be affected by the risk/crisis. As there could be many different publics with differing characteristics, a range of tactics and methods may be needed in order to effectively get your message across. Thus, it may be practical to have a separate communications plan for each audience, to assist in scheduling and visualizing the tasks at hand. The audience focus also falls under this category, and I like the visual representation of the “onion diagram,” as presented on page 188. In addition, Grunig, Grunig & Dozier’s situational theory of publics (p.189) is useful in determining your communications strategy.