Responding Responsibly to Crisis and Disaster: The Communication Challenges

How an organisation responds to crises and disasters has significant implications, for not only its reputation and brand but also its business continuity. We propose that four important considerations, power, honesty, transparency and timeliness, must be addressed when designing crisis communication. We then discuss how failure to give these priority can lead to emotional contagion, conspiracy theories, moral panics and fake news. We conclude by proposing that if crisis communication management is to be effective, then not only should it be ethical and socially responsible but also contingent, stakeholder centric and involving cycles of sensemaking and sense giving.