Defining MegaCrisis Explication and Implications for the Field

Defining Mega-Crisis: Explication and Implications for the Field of Crisis Communication Jenna L. Currie-Mueller

Background • Organization is privileged • Expanding field and contexts • Need inclusivity

A new form of crisis • Tight-coupling • Increased entropy of society • New events that defy current understanding

What is a mega-crisis? • Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

What is a mega-crisis? Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

What is a mega-crisis? Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

What is a mega-crisis? Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

What is a mega-crisis? Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

What is a mega-crisis? Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

Implication & Application • BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill (MC) • Malaysian Airlines flight 370 • Syrian refugee crisis (MC)

Selected References Albaba-Bertrand, J. (2000). Responses to complex humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters: An analytical comparison. Third World Quarterly 21(2), 215 -227. Dopfer, K. , Foster, J. , & Potts, J. (2004). Micro-meso-macro. Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 14, 263 -279. Drombrowsky, W. R. (1998). Again and again: Is a disaster what we call a “disaster”? In E. L. Quarantelli’s What is a disaster? Perspectives on the question. New York, NY: Routledge. Helsloot, I. , Boin, A. , Jacobs, B. , & Comfort, L. (2012). The new challenges of mega-crises. In I. Helsloot, A. Boin, B. Jacobs, & L. Comfort (Eds). Mega-crises: Understanding the prospects, nature, characteristics and effects of cataclysmic events. Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas. Seeger, M. W. , Sellnow, T. L. , & Ulmer, R. R. (2003). Communication and organizational crisis. Westport, CT: Praeger. Seeger, M. W. , Schwarz, A. , & Auer, C. (2016). Risk, crisis, and the global village: International perspectives. In A. Schwarz, M. W. Seeger, & C. Auer (Eds. ). The handbook of international crisis communication research. (p. 510 -517). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons. Waymer, D. & Heath, R. L. (2007). Emergent agents: The forgotten publics in crisis communication and issues management research. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 35, 88– 108. Wickline-Getchell, M. & Sellnow, T. L. (2016). The unparalleled spread of Ebola as a Mega-Crisis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Central States Communication Association. Grand Rapids, MI.