Geopolitics Magazine March - April 2015 ( 8th Edition ) | Page 97

Geopolitics & Daily News Magazine

Written by Linda Tavlin
Communication Specialist

Communicating Risks after Unexpected Events
in Diminishing Economies
INTRODUCTION
We have all see in recent times the impact of communication in the aftermath of an unexpected event.
How an organization communicates – whether it is a commercial or governmental entity – can have
major effects on an entire industry. If those effects are negative they can be magnified in diminishing
economies. However, they can be minimized, if not prevented. Whether or not an organization gets it
right or wrong is determined long before an event takes place based on the strategy that organization
has in place before anything ever occurs. When the event is unexpected, there is no time to develop a
strategy on what to say or do.
THE INITIAL TRAGEDY
The basic foundation for getting anything right or wrong in the area of communication or preventing
the risks after unexpected events in any economy is communication but of course it is especially bad in
diminishing economy and in what is perceived to be a non-mandatory industry such as tourism.
The initial tragedy is the one that occurs that is an accident or incident that results in loss of life or
injury to not just humans but to the environment. It is something that inspires an emotional response
from a large audience who identifies with what happens. The initial step in preventing this secondary
tragedy is the strategy that is in place before anything ever occurs.
THE TURNING POINT
There comes a time in an event that is called the turning point. This is the time when you can change
the outcome changes from pass to fail. This is the crossroad. Whether or not the event is perceived to
have been handled pass or fail is actually determined long before this point. It is actually determined
by the communication strategy in place before anything ever occurs.
Things actually go wrong in communication for one
of two reasons. The first reason in a scenario that is
a tragedy scenario – and remember we defined a
tragedy scenario as one that involves loss of life,
property, injury or damage – is that the anger of one
of the parties to the event. One of these parties to
the event can be the emotional audience, a union, a
community group (who can also be the emotional
audience) or politicians. The second reason things go
wrong is that the issues begin to arise and you do
not answer for them. When I say you do not answer
for the things that go wrong, I do not necessarily
mean that you give the technical answer of what
went wrong. I mean you must be accessible to your
publics, whoever they may be, and face them. In many industries, there is an investigation being
conducted whether it is by State investigators, judiciary, or technical industry investigators. Therefore,
even though you come forward to face your publics, the answers you may give them may be “I do not
know.” This answer is the truth and it does not matter how many times the question is asked, this will
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