Reliability in chaos: crisis communication in state emergency management agencies

Reliable public communication before, during, and after a crisis can save lives and protect property, yet scholarly research has neglected crisis communication in the public sector, particularly from an organizational perspective. To begin to fill this void, this dissertation employed the qualitative methods of participant observation and in-depth interviews to analyze the organizational practices of state emergency management agencies' (SEMA) public affairs offices. An understanding of the roles that public affairs officers have in supporting SEMA's mission of disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery emerged from the data analysis. The public affairs office had two distinct personalities while operating under routine conditions and under crisis conditions. As a result, this research presents a new model to explain how SEMA public affairs offices shift into disaster mode. Crisis Adaptive Public Information (CAPI) accounts for two distinct operational philosophies and explains the transitional nature of this type of organization as it reacts to a crisis stimulus. CAPI incorporates chaos theory as a means of interpreting a crisis event and the concept of high reliability organizations as a means of interpreting the public affairs office's organizational behavior. This model considers the specific organizational environment of SEMAs and provides a new theoretical foundation for further exploration of this vital area of public communication

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Planning for Spontaneity: The Challenges of Disaster Communication Fieldwork

This methodological article explores the intersection of qualitative fieldwork methods in crisis communication and disaster management. While crisis communication is a popular topic of research in the public relations genre, there is relatively no methodological work to serve as a precedent for a participant-observation study of communication during an unfolding disaster event. Likewise, disaster management literature that is based in qualitative fieldwork methods has not examined the communication practices of a disaster response organization. This article explores the various challenges in conducting fieldwork in real-time disaster communication and describes how the researcher overcame those challenges to conduct a participant-observation study of the American Red Cross' communication efforts during the 2009 Red River Valley floods in Fargo, North Dakota, United States

Incorporating Ethics in Disaster Communication Strategy: The Case of the U.S. Government in Deepwater Horizon

BP\u27s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010 was a major test of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which the United States federal government mandates for response to all disasters. At the time, this disaster was perhaps the greatest event in scope and duration under NIMS disaster management guidelines since they were revised in 2008 (the third edition was published in 2017). Ten years later, NIMS provides procedures for operating a joint information center (JIC), but still offers no guidelines for ethical communication. This case study examines the ethical implications of 178 news releases distributed by the Deepwater Horizon Incident JIC. Qualitative analysis found that communication was conducted in an open, ethical manner, with few exceptions. Conflicts emerged, however, that may have compromised ethical standards. The authors conclude with recommendations to inform ethical decision making by JIC communicators

Government and Corporate Communication Practices: Do the Differences Matter?

This study investigates the differences and similarities in communication practices between the public and private sectors. Through a survey of 976 government and corporate communicators, 12 organizational attributes previously identified in research on the government communication decision wheel (Liu & Horsley, 2007; Liu & Levenshus, 2008) were tested. The results indicated differences between the two groups in budgets, political influence, communication frequency, public pressure, interaction with other organizations, media coverage frequency, media coverage evaluation, and impact of legal frameworks as they relate to communication practices. No significant differences in diversity of publics, opportunities for professional development, participation in organizational leadership, or management support for communication between the two groups were found. The findings allowed for refinement of this developing model of government communication

Comparisons of U.S. Government Communication Practices: Expanding the Government Communication Decision Wheel

Government communication is pervasive and has an impact on every aspect of American public life. However, there is minimal theory‐driven research in this critical area of communication. This research explores comparisons of communication practices and the status of professional development among the four levels of U.S. government organizations through a survey of 781 government communicators. The study identifies six significant differences and two similarities in how the public sector environment affects communication practices at the city, county, state, and federal levels. The findings were applied to a modification of the government communication decision wheel, a model that offers a theoretical foundation for the study of government communication within its unique environmental context free from the bias of corporate‐centric research assumptions. The findings contribute to communication theory development for the underresearched public sector

Communication practices of US elected and non‐elected officials : Toward a new model of government communication

Purpose The purpose of this study is to refine and expand an emerging US government communication model, the government communication decision wheel, by testing the differences between the communication practices of US public sector communicators working for non‐elected officials versus those employed by elected officials. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from surveys of 781 US government communicators, the study compares the communication practices and influences of government communicators working for elected officials versus non‐elected officials. Findings The study identifies four significant differences and five similarities in how the public sector environment affects non‐elected and elected officials’ communicators’ public relations practices. Research limitations/implications While the study and underlying model focus on US government communication, this study provides valuable theoretical insights. It supports the model\u27s underlying premise that the public sector is unique from the private sector while also further refining the significant differences within the US government sector. Practical implications This study helps US government communicators identify unique environmental attributes that affect communication activities in the public sector. It helps identify how these attributes affect communication practices within individual and collaborative contexts. Finally, it helps non‐governmental communicators and communicators outside of the US to understand how the attributes may affect communication practices when they collaborate with government communicators from the four levels of US government as well as with those who work for elected and non‐elected officials. Originality/value Despite the critical importance of communication in the public sector, very little research focuses specifically on government communication outside of political communication. The findings provide valuable insights for practitioners and contribute to public relations theory development for the under‐researched public sector