Crisis Communication debated in Romanian-American Workshop

The Center for Research in Communication and Cox International Center at the University of Georgia, USA, organized the workshop Crisis Communication. The event took place on 10-11th of May at the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, bringing together experts both from the United States and Romania.

For two days practitioners and researchers in the crisis communication field shared with participants in the workshop information, methodologies, practices and lessons learned from their experience in crisis communication, risk communication and emergency or conflict communication, all folded on current trends in new media, social media and traditional media.

Paul Dobrescu, rector of the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration and director of the Center for Research in Communication, and Lee B. Becker, director of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, University of Georgia, USA gave the welcome speeches and introduced participants in the area of crisis communication.
Nicoleta Corbu, executive director of the Center for Research in Communication moderated the workshop - Crisis Communication and the Public Sphere, within which were invited Remus Pricopie, dean of the College of Communication and Public Relations, NSPSPA and Oana Marinescu, PhD, former spokesperson of the Government of Romania (2005-2007).

As media have a crucial role in crisis communication, both as a tool that can actually worsen the appearance or condition of a crisis, but also as means of control over the evolution of the events, David Hazinski CEO, Intelligent Media Consultants, LLC, USA and Ion Stavre, PhD, associate professor, former spokesperson and associate director of the Department for Public Relations, Ministry of Defense (1999-2001), analyzed the relationship between crisis communication and media. Mădălina Boţan, PhD and researcher at the Centre for Research in Communication moderated the discussions.

David Hazinski emphasized the importance of social media in crisis phenomena and the need to adapt to their speed and specificity. Although trends in the media are changing, the basic rules in crisis management remain largely the same: prompt response to the crisis, provide aid to those in need, concrete measures, showing concern for people, exposing the truth without hiding information just because we do not like it, manage rumors, use evidence to strengthen the credibility of the message, videos being nowadays the most convincing and efficient as they enjoy a high degree of confidence from various types of publics.

The transition from the social media area to risk communication and new perspectives for the development of crisis communication came as a necessity.Vasile Dâncu, PhD, professor, CEO, IRES, Ion Chiciudean, PhD, associate professor, College of Communication and Public Relations, NSPSPA and George David, PhD, senior lecturer, College of Communication and Public Relations, NSPSPA were the guests of this panel, the discussions being moderated by Elena Negrea PhD and researcher at the Centre for Research in Communication. Ion Chiciudean approached the subject of crisis communications content development, focusing both on the elements involved in developing messages such as space communication features, the responsibility of the organization for the crisis arose, the existence / absence of enhancing factors of the crisis, the crisis level and its development stages, and also on the measures and courses of action such as audience involvement in crisis prevention and resolution, listening carefully to all categories of public, showing honesty and openness, communication coordination and collaboration with other credible sources, preventing media requirements and elaborating communication plans. In the context of growing interdependence between organizations, globalization, new technologies of communication and information revolution, George David spoke about trends in crisis communication and about the modern techniques in communication, these being a useful instrument as well as a threat.

Within the second day of workshops Marcel Lucaciu, general inspector, General Direction for Emergency Situations (IGSU) and Aurel Bilanici, PhD, PMU director, Ministry of Interior and Administration (2005-2009) introduced us in the area of communication in emergency situations, the workshop being moderated by Irina Stănciugelu, PhD, senior lecturer, College of Communication and Public Relations, NSPSPA. Tudor Vlad, PhD, Associate Director of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, Lee B. Becker, PhD, Director of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, Adriana Săftoiu, former spokesperson of the Presidential Administration (2004-2007) and Sever Voinescu, spokesperson of the Democratic Liberal Party transferred the subject of crisis communication in the conflict area, while Andreea Năstase, vice-president for Communication, Roşia Montana, Bogdan Naumovici, CCO of Advertising Agency 23, consultant for communication strategies, Roşia Montana and Oana Roman, image consultant BlueAir brought the subject in the business area. Caroline Hurford, senior public information officer, U.N. World Food Program closed the series of workshops by turning back to new directions in crisis communication, to the need of adapting to social media channels, and by offering insights focused on the experience and the practice in the field.

Crisis Communication is a large area that is developing continuously, although maybe the essential steps emphasized by David Hazinski - prepare a crisis communications plan, identify vulnerabilities, run “worse case” scenarios, train a spokesperson, take ownership of the story as fast as you can and be honest, early planning of needed materials and adaptation to the short action time left available by the emergence of messages and rumors in the social media - have not yet been learned.