Blackwell Reference Online

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The preceding chapters of this Handbook offer an impressive array of crisis communication research. Crisis communication has evolved from a small sub-discipline within public relations and corporate communication to become one of the dominant research areas in these fields, especially public relations. Is this interest simply a fad? The answer is, “Doubtful.” Crises are not fading from existence or view. Organizations always will have vulnerabilities for crises and crises frequently are highly visible problems. News stories and blogs often offer critiques of crisis communication efforts. Couple this visibility with potentially serious ramifications for people and organizations and we have a social problem that demands research attention. The goal of applied research is to help solve problems. Thus, crisis communication is an attractive and appropriate subject for researchers. Moreover, online communication and globalization increase the likelihood of crises occurring and drawing intense stakeholder attention. Hence, researchers and practitioners have a sustained reason for improving the practice of crisis communication. The Handbook is designed to capture the breadth, depth, and diversity of crisis communication research. Part II highlights the methodological diversity in research, but the entire collection reflects the various approaches to crisis communication. Clearly there ... log in or subscribe to read full text