Crisis, Risk, and Issues Management Messages
PR must consider and align different types of messages for various publics. There are five argument strategies based on rhetorical theory that inform how PR practitioners produce messages.
Internal rhetoric, identity rhetoric, issues rhetoric, risk rhetoric, and crisis rhetoric are all connected. Messages that shape who you are to your members (internal rhetoric) will impact behaviors that intern who you appear to be to your external publics (identity rhetoric). The messages you produce about relevant issues (issues rhetoric) will impact your internal behaviors and who your public perceives you to be. Your responses to crises will also impact internal and external perceptions of who you are.
Internal rhetoric, identity rhetoric, issues rhetoric, risk rhetoric, and crisis rhetoric are all connected. Messages that shape who you are to your members (internal rhetoric) will impact behaviors that intern who you appear to be to your external publics (identity rhetoric). The messages you produce about relevant issues (issues rhetoric) will impact your internal behaviors and who your public perceives you to be. Your responses to crises will also impact internal and external perceptions of who you are.
Crisis |
An organizational crisis can take many forms but a quick and effective communication response is essential to recovering from the crisis. This video describes crisis and explores how social media has impacted how organizations respond to them.
Careless word choice, socially unacceptable practices and unexpected events can create a crisis for an organization. This student video project provides a nice description of how a crisis is born and develops.
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Risk |
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Issue |
Sometimes the PR practitioner's job is to produce messages that advocate for or against an issue. Issues are disagreements over facts, values, or policies that affect public policy.
Conflict can be over whether or not a problem exists, the nature of the problem, or what action is an appropriate response, This presentation describes rhetorical strategies for developing effective issue messages. Dougall (2008) provides a more comprehensive look at issues management,
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