1、Public Relations Review 33 (2007) 313318Remembering disaster: Since the mediado, so must public relationsJeffrey L. Courtrighta, Gerald Z. Slaughterb,1aSchool of Communication, Fell Hall 428, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4480, United StatesbDepartment of Communication, 322 Erickson Ha
2、ll, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, United StatesReceived 9 October 2006; received in revised form 26 January 2007; accepted 26 January 2007AbstractOnly recently has research begun concerning the longer-term aftermath of organizational crisis. This essay presents the genreof disaste
3、r rhetoric as a viable strategy to address the problems and opportunities that arise when the media write about crisisanniversaries or news stories that refer to any crisis or disaster, past or present. After a brief review of genre theory, the authorsoutline the seven functions of the “rhetoric of
4、disaster” and provide multiple examples of their application to public relations activityand its news coverage. The essay concludes with questions that practitioners may use proactively in the development of copy pointsto address each of the rhetoric of disasters functions. 2007 Elsevier Inc. All ri
5、ghts reserved.Keywords: Rhetoric; Genre; Writing conventions; Disaster; Crisis; Message design1. OverviewThe bulk of the crisis communication literature has been devoted to crisis plans and the principles behind them(e.g., Fearn-Banks, 2006; Seeger, Sellnow, Olaniran Orlikowski Yates Harrell (2) to
6、transform the relationship of theaudience to the deceased from present to past; (3) to address the audiences confrontation with the fact that each personis mortal; (4) to comfort mourners with the idea that the ideals that the deceased valued live on; and (5) to reunitethe community after its loss (
7、Jamieson LaGrone, 2006). The financial media also have continued to focus on broader lessons learned from the economicdisaster brought about by companies such as Enron and Arthur Anderson. In contrast, the Tylenol tampering case is aperennial example of how management engaged in proper decision-maki
8、ng processes. Holocaust museums and otherJewish organizations sum up the lessons of the Holocaust in two words: “Never again.” It is up to public relations torecall the best practices organizational members performed during a crisis and to demonstrate how organizations havelearned lessons from disas
9、ter to regain public trust, thus fulfilling the prescriptive function of disaster rhetoric in apositive manner.Intriguingly, rather than mitigate a sense of loss, application of the heuristic function to public relations worksuggests that messages can be designed to intensify the audiences sense of
10、loss from a disaster so that publics are morereceptive to its lessons and act upon them. A good case in point would be Holocaust museums. For example, CANDLES316 J.L. Courtright, G.Z. Slaughter / Public Relations Review 33 (2007) 313318Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Terre Haute, Indiana, h
11、as sponsored a pilgrimage to Auschwitz on the40th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries of the camps liberation (e.g., Ayer, 1995; Sandweiss, 2005). The organizationsfounder, a survivor of the Mengele twins experiments there, in speeches around the country and in news interviews,has emphasized the loss of h
12、er family during the Holocaust (e.g., Loughlin, 2005).The preservative function of disaster rhetoric not only sustains cultural memories and framings of events such asthe Holocaust but can provide message resources for years to come. This can be bad news since poor handling of acorporate crisis is n
13、ot forgotten by the media (e.g., Dow Chemical and Bhopal and the Exxon Valdez have becomesynonymous with how not to handle a disaster) or by an organizations critics (e.g., Greenpeace International, 2004).With news footage or photography files available, “the media loves an anniversary.” As the Balt
14、imore Sun observed,“networks and cable outlets outdid themselves in reliving the tragedy” of 9/11 (Madigan, 2006). Yet positive outcomesmay accrue from a crisis (Ulmer and “some companies have plans but have not communicated them to employees or practiced whatto do in a mock disaster. And others hav
15、e done nothing. About 25% of organizations have not communicated or testedtheir plans” (Armour, 2006). In conjunction with the prescriptive function, handling a crisis well and adopting soundpolicies may allow an organization to place a positively framed message regarding a past disaster when annive
16、rsariesor other opportunities arise.5. RecommendationsThe identification of these seven characteristics and the classification of messages as part of a genre of disasteris thus instructive to our understanding of the functions such messages perform in our culture. More can be learnedby taking the pr
17、inciples learned from communication criticism and applying them to the creation of public relationsmessages (Smudde, 2004). For organizations and practitioners who are faced with media contacts that are likely to bringup major crises upon their anniversaries or long after their critical status has e
18、nded, we offer the following questions,based on seven functions of disaster rhetoric, to be asked in the development of copy points for public relationsmessages:(1) Consolation: How might consolation still be required in addressing a past crisis or disaster? What specific publicswarrant special atte
19、ntion due to the phases of the grieving process or ongoing trauma effects?(2) Theological: What religious or spiritual values may be associated with the organization, its publics worldviews,or with the disaster itself? How should the theological function of disaster rhetoric be addressed, if at all?
20、(3) Prescriptive: What examples from how the crisis was handled by individuals or groups within the organizationmay be used as best practices and examples to follow?(4) Didactic: What evidence is there that the organization has learned lessons since the disaster?(5) Heuristic: To what degree should
21、a sense of loss associated with the disaster or crisis be addressed? Should it bemitigated to bring about healing between an organization and its publics? Should it be emphasized to increaseorganizational and audience commitment to action based on lessons learned?(6) Preservative: What messages and
22、actions taken by the organization during the disaster may be used to cast theorganization in a positive light? What news files and footage might the media use, negative or positive?(7) Adjudicative: What message strategies will help the organization as it once again comes before the court of publico
23、pinion?J.L. Courtright, G.Z. Slaughter / Public Relations Review 33 (2007) 313318 317Clearly these questions can be asked during a crisis or disaster as well as much later. Communications at a timeof catastrophe make a significant contribution to a fully developed corporate strategy (Dolphin, 2005).
24、 For example,the United Nations, on the 1-year anniversary of its pledge to protect civilians (Davis, 2006), issued a news releasemerely reported the increase of human rights abuses in the Sudanese region of Darfur (UN News Service, 2006). Suchapparent faux pas need not occur. Not only should practi
25、tioners be prepared for crises (e.g., Olaniran “Itsdefinitely overdone.” Baltimore (MD) Sun On-line. Retrieved September 18, 2006, from http:/ C. R. (1984). Genre as social action. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70, 151167.National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA. (2006, January 31). Fallen
26、space heroes honored News release. Retrieved September18, 2006, from http:/www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/f memorial prt.htm.Olaniran, B. A., & Williams, D. E. (2001). Anticipatory model of crisis management: A vigilant response to technological crises. In R. L. Heath(Ed.), Handbook of public rel
27、ations (pp. 487500). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Orlikowski, W. J., & Yates, J. (1994). Genre repertoire: The structuring of communicative practices in organizations. Administrative ScienceQuarterly, 39, 541574.Sandweiss, L. A. (2005). Reporting from Auschwitz. Indiana (University Bloomington). Alumni M
28、agazine, 68(1), 3843.Seeger, M. W., Sellnow, T. L., & Ulmer, R. R. (2003). Communication and organizational crisis. Westport, CT: Praeger.Smudde, P. M. (2000). The rhetorical and organizational nature of public relations: The case of General Motors C/K pickups (Doctoral dissertation,Wayne State Univ
29、ersity, 2000). Dissertation Abstracts International, 61(10A), 3982.318 J.L. Courtright, G.Z. Slaughter / Public Relations Review 33 (2007) 313318Smudde, P. M. (2004). Implications on the practice and study of Kenneth Burkes idea of a “public relations counsel with a heart.” CommunicationQuarterly, 5
30、2, 420432.Ulmer, R. R., & Sellnow, T. L. (2002). Crisis management and the discourse of renewal: Understanding the potential for positive outcomes of crisis.Public Relations Review, 28, 361365.UN News Service (2006, September 18). Large scale human rights abuses mounting in Sudans DarfurUN rights chief News release. RetrievedSeptember 18, 2006, from http:/www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=19871&Cr=&Cr1=.Yates, J., & Orlikowski, W. J. (1992). Genres of organizational communication: A structurational approach to studying communication and media.Academy of Management Review, 17, 299326.
