The Instructional Dynamic of Risk and Crisis Communication: Distinguishing Instructional Messages from Dialogue

In 1989, the National Research Council affirmed for the scientific community the long-standing mantra of many communication scholars: risk communication can and should function as a dialogue among organizations, government agencies, and all relevant stakeholders. While this dialogue is certainly relevant to all forms of risk, crisis situations create an inherent constraint on dialogue. As Heath and O'Hair (2009) explain, crisis is risk manifested. Thus, an acute crisis situation requires the rapid exchange of messages designed to gain compliance from all stakeholders in hopes of minimizing or mitigating harm. For too long, government agencies presumed that a single warning shared through standard media channels was sufficient for reaching all stakeholders during a crisis. This linear view fails to account for the diverse informational needs and cultural constraints within the broad audiences that are confronted by crises (Sellnow, Ulmer, Seeger, & Littlefield, 2009). As a means of addressing variance of audience needs, this essay reviews scholarship that has bridged instructional research with risk communication. The objective of this blended approach is to enhance an organization or agency's capacity to generate messages that attend to the varying learning styles inherent in their audiences.

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