Media management and crisis communications: the importance of implementing key provisions of the media in the response methodology

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National Technical University of Ukraine «Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute»

Department of publishing and editing

Media management and crisis communications: the importance of implementing key provisions of the media in the response methodology

А. Kyrychok, Ass. Professor

Annotation

With new environmental changes and terrorism creating opportunities for crisis situations, and the proliferation and development of mass media increasing vulnerability to crises, organizations are placing greater importance on crisis management. Vital to successful crisis management are strategic and effective crisis communications. Without it, the health and safety of stakeholders and the reputation of the organization are at risk.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the existing tools of media management and crisis communications in the context of overcoming the current challenges of information warfare.

Research methods. The study used the following methods: bibliographic (to analyze the current best practices of crisis media management); graphical (to visualize the damage caused by information cyberattacks); analysis (to identify the specifics of interaction between private media organizations and government agencies).

Results. The author proves that unlike risk communications, which aim to help people understand the facts that really affect their lives so that they can make informed decisions about risks, crisis communications are more aimed at managing the consequences, impact and public perception of the crisis. Crisis communications is also seen as an action-based perspective, where they shape the fundamental meaning of crisis events. In this sense, crisis communicators have the possibility to influence how the crisis and the organization are perceived by the public.

Novelty. It is proved that it is advisable to study crisis communications not as situational phenomena, but as a permanent process that should not be reduced to the stage of post-crisis communication.

The practical significance of the results obtained is to identify the need for further development of cooperation between government agencies and representatives of the media community, including private ownership, in counteracting the consequences of a full-scale and information war in Ukraine.

Key words: media management, crisis communications, social marketing, public-private partnership, media.

Анотація

Киричок А.П. Медіаменеджмент та кризові комунікації: важливість імплементації ключових положень ЗМІ в методологію реагування

З новими екологічними змінами й тероризмом, що створюють можливості для виникнення кризових ситуацій, а також поширенням і розвитком засобів масової інформації, що підвищують вразливість до криз, організації надають більшого значення антикризовому управлінню. Життєво важливими для успішного кризового управління є стратегічні та ефективні кризові комунікації. Без цього здоров'я і безпека зацікавлених сторін та репутація організації опиняються під загрозою.

Мета дослідження - проаналізувати інструментарій медіаменеджменту та кризових комунікацій в умовах подолання сучасних викликів інформаційної війни.

Методологія дослідження. У ході дослідження використано такі методи: бібліографічний (для аналізу чинних кращих практик кризового медіаменеджменту); графічний (для візуалізації збитків, спричинених інформаційними кібератаками); аналіз (для виявлення особливостей взаємодії приватних медійних організацій та урядових органів).

Результати. Обґрунтовано, що, на відміну від комунікацій щодо ризиків, які мають на меті допомогти людям зрозуміти факти, які дійсно стосуються їхнього життя, щоб вони могли приймати обґрунтовані рішення щодо ризиків, кризові комунікації більше спрямовані на управління наслідками, впливом та громадським сприйняттям кризи. Кризові комунікації також розглянуто як перспективу, що базується на дії, де вони формують фундаментальне значення кризових подій. У цьому сенсі кризові комунікатори мають можливість впливати на сприйняття кризи та організації громадськістю.

Новизна. Доведено, що доцільним є дослідження кризових комунікацій не як ситуаційних явищ, а як перманентного процесу, що не повинен зводитись до стадії посткризової комунікації.

Практичне значення отриманих результатів полягає в ідентифікації необхідності подальшого розвитку співпраці між урядовими органами та представниками медійної спільноти, у тому числі приватної форми власності, в умовах протидії наслідкам повномасштабної й інформаційної війни в Україні.

Ключові слова: медіаменеджмент, кризові комунікації, соціальний маркетинг, державно- приватне партнерство, ЗМІ.

Introduction

Competing with 24-hour news cycles, social media, and mobile technologies, crisis communicators are now more than ever under pressure to fill the information void. In addition, not everyone who uses social media has the best intentions; they can use it to harm an organization, potentially creating a crisis for both the organization and the stakeholders who carry risks.

Social media has become a valuable source of data on social crises and an important channel for disseminating official information. Government agencies are increasingly turning to social media to use it as a mouthpiece during crises. However, obtaining intelligence information through social media analytics remains a challenge for government agencies, for example, due to a lack of training and tools. To address this shortcoming, government agencies need tools to help them analyse social media data for the public good.

Social media has become an important part of billions of people's lives and influences the way people consume and share information [10]. One of the important methodological positions is the Social Media Analytics (SMA) approach [13].

As a result of the highly crucial phenomena revolving around social media and the huge amounts of data generated on a daily basis, SMA has gained popularity among scholars with IC [3]. It can be understood as «a new interdisciplinary research field that aims to combine, extend, and adapt methods for analysing social media data» [12]. Many disciplines, including IC, have made important contributions to SMA. SMA uses structured, semi-structured, and unstructured social media data (e.g., text, images, time series data, metadata, network connections) and allows researchers or organizations to interpret publicly available social media data to assess people's behaviour and attitudes. Therefore, SMA is highly relevant in various contexts, such as political communication, crisis management, or business. For that purpose, application-oriented research has offered dashboard interfaces as relevant tools for social media data processing [2].

At the present stage of overcoming the challenges faced by Ukrainian society, domestic scholars are focusing their research on the issues of information and communication management, as well as on implementation of the best crisis practices (for example, A. D. Baranetska) [1].

Problem statement and research methods. The purpose of the article is to analyze the existing tools of media management and crisis communications in the context of overcoming the current challenges of information warfare.

Results

While the importance of crisis communications is widely recognized, the definition of a crisis is not universally accepted. To define a crisis, it is necessary to first define risk. A risk is an event that can have positive or negative consequences of various scales, the occurrence and impact of which can be predicted and controlled in different ways, and which can be harmful or beneficial. In this context, a crisis is a manifestation of risk. In particular, Fig. 1 shows the estimated amount of damage from information cyberattacks.

Fig. 1. Damage caused by information cyberattacks (assessment until 2025), trillion US dollars [4]

Cyberattacks can affect an organization in many ways, from minor operations interruptions to significant financial losses. Regardless of the cyberattack type, each consequence has certain costs, both monetary and other. The consequences of an information cybersecurity incident include financial losses, loss of productivity, damage to reputation, legal liability, and business continuity issues [4].

Different definitions of crisis are further fragmented when considering the types of crises. Some authors divide crises into consensual and dissension ones. Consensual crises are those in which there is agreement on the situation's meaning, the norms and values that are acceptable, and the priorities that should be followed. Dissensual-type crises are conflict situations in which there are sharply opposing views on the situation's nature, what caused it, and what should be done to resolve it. Scholars have defined crisis events in terms of their potential impact on the organization's health. The identified typology of crisis types includes the following: natural disasters; at a workplace: violence, rumours, toxicity, provocation; accidents related to technical errors; damage caused by technical errors; damage caused by human efforts; accidents related to human efforts; organizational fault. The types of crises are considered, taking into account whether they are internal (poor operating procedures) or external (natural disaster or terrorism). Today, organizations are vulnerable to liability, regardless of whether it lies within or outside the organization.

If an event is perceived by stakeholders as a crisis, then tools to shape crisis communication are needed. Unlike risk communication, which aims to help people understand the facts that really matter to their lives so that they can make informed decisions about risks, crisis communication is more focused on managing the consequences, impact and public perception of a crisis.

Initially, crisis communication was seen exclusively as a part of public relations, used to develop a strategic post-crisis response that reduces or diffuses blame and responsibility. However, the study of modern crises has led to the fact that crisis communications has been viewed as a continuous process that is not limited to the post-crisis communication stage. Crisis communication is now associated with the coordination of resources, such as equipment, staff and information, to avoid or reduce damage, as well as to coordinate resources during post-crisis support and recovery. Crisis communication also plays a dominant role in risk identification, when appropriate information about risk can stimulate behaviour that can reduce risk.

Crisis communication is also seen as an action-based perspective, where it shapes the fundamental meaning of crisis events. In this sense, crisis communicators have the possibility to influence how the crisis and the organization are perceived by the public. This can be achieved through three steps:

1) information that tells stakeholders how to respond to the crisis;

2) information that helps people to cope psychologically with the scale of the crisis;

3) information that people will use to form an image of the organization.

The goal of minimizing the damage caused by the crisis is achieved in stages. Four stages of the crisis life cycle:

1) the prodromal stage, when signs or hints that a crisis may potentially emerge begin to appear;

2) crisis breakthrough or acute stage, characterized by a triggering event with associated losses;

3) chronic stage, when the consequences of the crisis run long as efforts to overcome the crisis progress;

4) resolution, when there is a clear signal that the crisis is over. A successful crisis manager must act according to each stage of the crisis. In addition, the idea that crisis managers have the possibility to be proactive rather than reactive to a crisis because warning signs, or prodromes, can be identified is quite common.

In the new models of crisis communication that use new technologies and social media, crisis communicators need to be alert to fragmented audiences, or their messages may not reach their targeted audience. Thanks to social media, everyone has the potential to be a «watchdog» a citizen journalist and photojournalist who can constantly explore the world around them and share what they find online. This acceleration of communication and awareness has major consequences for crisis communications. It is changing the landscape in which crisis communicators operate. They no longer need to be constrained by space and time.

The convergence of old and new technologies allows people to come together in times of crisis in both old and new ways. In times of crisis, people seek to find order in chaos, and they seek to understand what is happening around them, to «make sense» Social media, especially those where users can post photos and videos of events, add another very effective way to do this. Sharing photos in such situations can be informative, newsworthy, and therapeutic. Such activities have existed since the invention of cameras, and now, with the rapid emergence of digital cameras and photo-sharing websites, the arena for sharing photographic information has expanded. The technological convergence of camera phones and user-generated websites supports new forms of peer-to-peer communication and local organization.

This new technology can help crisis responders by providing useful information about the emergency to crisis communicators and other stakeholders. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have increased the possibility for people to provide assistance and participate in post-disaster clean-up. In recent disasters, ICTs have served as a means of enhanced communication for survivors, curious observers, and compassionate helpers who wish to assist those directly affected by the crisis, both inside and outside the geographic area of the disaster.

Stakeholders on the ground affected by a crisis are usually those with first-hand information of the event. These people can serve as information intermedium's or technical coordinators, as they help connect people to information through a range of technological media. They may help provide and disseminate information, as well as create visuals to help organize relevant information. They may not intend to help crisis communicators, but the information they provide is actually helpful.

For all its benefits, the fast-paced nature of social media, especially through mobile technology, can be well measured and it still has its drawbacks. On the one hand, it can contribute to or escalate crises by spreading negative information or misinformation at an incredible rate. Sometimes, the Internet simply acts as an agent that accelerates the news cycle about a crisis and crosses geographic boundaries. In such circumstances, the Internet functions like traditional media, simply reflecting reality, although obviously in a much faster and viral way. This can make it difficult for crisis communicators to control their narratives, making it even more important for communicators to master social media.

In addition, during crises, social media can also generate a lot of noise that stakeholders must sift through to find or send the information they need. This is why it is important to establish Internet relationships in the precrisis stage so that stakeholders know where to find relevant information during a crisis.

Social media can also cause crises in the form of rumours, hacker attacks, shadow or copycat websites, web security breaches, and all forms of cyber terrorism. media management crisis communication public

Some organizations are already beginning to incorporate social media into their crisis communications plans. While many organizations may be recognizing the attributes of social media in their crisis communications plans, it is critical that they avoid the «shiny new toy syndrome» when this resource can be used in a multitude of ways, none of which are effective. The Red Cross ducked this issue by developing an online philosophy of disaster: to use social media to empower clients and supporters to receive or provide assistance during disasters. The Red Cross platforms include a blog, an online disaster newsroom, as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr accounts [8].

The rapid acquisition and dissemination of information is at the heart of crisis communications. Social media provides a way to do this that exceeds time and space. Thanks to mobile technologies, they give crisis communicators access to the voice, photo and video records of a crisis as it is happening or minutes after it has occurred. This can be used to gather or disseminate information. Social media is not a panacea for crisis communications, but it is another tool for communication and another way to send and receive information. It changes the landscape of practice. There are positives and negatives, but for crisis communications and social media, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

Outside of social media, organizations pay large sums of money to have eyes and ears on the ground during crises or even in normal times to protect against potential crises. Social media provides an opportunity to do this at minimal cost. Everyone is a watchdog. This means that everyone has the possibility to help communicate during crises. The key is to incorporate this opportunity into particular crisis communication plans and put it into practice. Although social media may be a new phenomenon and seem alien to some, it is essentially the same way of communicating with stakeholders, only not limited by geography or time. The aforementioned study showed that people act in the same way during crises, but only in a different environment. This is promising news for crisis communicators. It means they don't have to reinvent the wheel.

Cooperation between government agencies and media service «providers» is important in overcoming the challenges caused by the full-scale war in Ukraine, including information warfare. For example, there is a well-established international practice of cooperation between leading social media companies and developed economies. This is primarily due to the key areas of activity of such companies (Table 1).

Table 1

Types of activities of 10 companies in the top 27 global industry leaders

Source: [7].

According to the data presented in Table 1, it is necessary to group companies into several categories and analyze their activity directions:

- advertising in social media;

- social media management;

- work with target consumer groups;

- other activities related to social media.

Working with target consumer groups is the most multidivisional type of social media companies' activity. Its share is 37%. The next area is other activities (26%). These activities include the following items: influencer marketing; research of relevant content; optimization services; tracking and adapting to online trends and resources; support within blogging communities, etc. The shares of social media advertising and social media management are roughly equal (18% and 19%).

It should also be noted that an important aspect of these companies' activities is cooperation with the media in overcoming crises at the micro level (at the level of business entities), which is an influential tool for defeating the enemy in an information war.

In recent years, social media communication has had a huge impact on society and, in particular, on citizens' decision-making processes, enabling new forms of public discourse and challenging social cohesion. Organizations such as the Council of Europe [14] or NATO's Strategic Command [11] have taken note of these challenges. Social media communication plays a particularly important role for citizens and governments in times of crisis, when there is an urgent need to quickly find relevant situational information and disseminate it effectively to the citizens directly or indirectly affected, for example, during natural disasters such as floods or man-made crises such as terrorist attacks [5]. Verifying available information from various official and unofficial sources is a particular challenge for governments. There is also a need to ensure that accurate information is more widely disseminated and be more influential than ungrounded rumours or deliberate disinformation. Governments are faced with a huge amount of new social media data that is constantly being generated, requiring in-depth knowledge of social media analytics to draw meaningful conclusions. At the same time, governments lack comprehensive training and tools. Therefore, methods and tools that are easy to use are an urgent need to be able to participate in SMA while managing the risks that arise in their area of operation.

Numerous studies have explored the potential of developing such methods and tools for emergency management agencies (EMAs), which include police and fire departments, as well as other emergency services [9]. The requirements and technical capabilities of the EMAs differ for government agencies. Whereas the EMAs are experienced in using information systems to extract and disseminate information, existing processes and structures can be adapted to social media. Governments, on the other hand, often rely on external consultations and processes are often much less digitized [6]. In addition, EMAs often have experience with information systems (management and control). The challenge for them is to integrate information from self-ruling systems, such as social media, into their workflow.

Conclusions

It is still necessary to build relationships with stakeholders using social media so that they know where to find you in times of crisis. This can also reduce the amount of misinformation. This means building relationships with bloggers in the same way that an organization does with reporters. It means buying domain names to protect the organization's reputation. It means providing opportunities for people to share information and understand crises. The pre-crisis phase is just as important as the crisis phase and the post-crisis phase. It is likely that whatever tone an organization sets for its stakeholders will be carried over into its social media policies. However, social media can strengthen these relationships through easier and more casual contact. Stronger relationships mean a stronger reputation, which helps in crisis communications. An organization that ignores the power of this new communication tool could suffer more damage than necessary during a crisis and, more importantly, potentially negative impacts on the health and safety of its stakeholders.

More research needs to be done on how crisis communicators can use new media to apply useful information, reach fragmented audiences, and mitigate potential crisis situations. The better crisis communicators understand this tool, the better they can use it to their advantage during crises to help both their organization and stakeholders.

Список використаної літератури

1. Баранецька А.Д. Інформаційно-комунікаційний менеджмент: кризові практики. Вчені записки ТНУ імені В.І. Вернадського. Серія: Філологія. Журналістика. 2021. Т. 32 (71). №6 Ч. 3. С. 112-119.

2. Avvenuti M., Cresci S., Del Vigna F., Fagni T., Tesconi M. CrisMap: A Big Data Crisis Mapping System Based on Damage Detection and Geoparsing. Information Systems Frontiers. 2018. №20:5. P. 993-1011.

3. Choi J., Yoon J., Chung J., Coh B.Y., Lee J.M. Social Media Analytics and Business Intelligence Research: A Systematic Review. Information Processing and Management. 2020. № 57:6. P. 1-18.

4. Embroker. Growth of Cybercrime costs.

5. Fathi R., Thom D., Koch S., Ertl T., Fiedrich F. VOST: A Case Study in Voluntary Digital Participation for Collaborative Emergency Management. Information Processing and Management. №57:4. P. 1-25.

6. Gholami R., Singh N., Agrawal P., Espinosa K., Bamufleh D. Information Technology/Systems Adoption in the Public Sector: Evidence from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Journal of Global Information Management. 2021. №29:4. P. 172-194.

7. Influencer, Marketing Hub.

8. International Committee of the Red Cross.

9. Mirbabaie M., Fromm J. Reducing the Cognitive Load of Decision-Makers in Emergency Management through Augmented Reality: Proceedings of the 27th European Conference on Information Systems. 2019. P. 1-11.

10. Mirbabaie M., Stieglitz S., Brunker F. Dynamics of Convergence Behaviour in Social Media Crisis Communication - a Complexity Perspective. Information Technology and People (ahead of-print). P.1-27.

11. NATO. Digital Hydra: Security Implications of False Information. Riga, 2017.

12. Shahi G.K., Dirkson A., Majchrzak T.A. An Exploratory Study of Covid-19 Mis in formation on Twitter. On-line Social Networks and Media. 2021. №22. P. 1-16.

13. Stieglitz S., Mirbabaie M., Ross B., Neuberger C. Social Media Analytics - Challenges in Topic Discovery, Data Collection, and Data Preparation. International Journal of Information Management. 2018. №39. P. 156-168.

14. Wardle C., Derakhshan H. Information Disorder: Interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policy. Strasbourg, 2017.

References

1. Baranetska, A.D. (2021). Informatsiino-komunikatsiinyi menedzhment: kryzovi praktyky [Information and communication management: crisis practices]. Vcheni zapysky TNU imeni V.I. Vernadskoho. Seriia: Filolohiia. Zhurnalistyka, 32 (71), 6, 112-119 [in Ukrainian].

2. Avvenuti, M., Cresci, S., Del Vigna, F., Fagni, T., & Tesconi, M. (2018). CrisMap: A Big Data Crisis Mapping System Based on Damage Detection and Geoparsing. Information Systems Frontiers, 20:5, 993-1011 [in English].

3. Choi, J., Yoon, J., Chung, J., Coh, B.Y., & Lee, J.M. (2020). Social Media Analytics and Business Intelligence Research: A Systematic Review. Information Processing and Management, 57:6, 1-18.

4. Embroker. Growth of Cybercrime costs.

5. Fathi, R., Thom, D., Koch, S., Ertl, T., & Fiedrich, F. (2020). VOST: A Case Study in Voluntary Digital Participation for Collaborative Emergency Management. Information Processing and Management, 57:4, 1-25 [in English].

6. Gholami, R., Singh, N., Agrawal, P., Espinosa, K., & Bamufleh, D. (2021). Information Technology/Systems Adoption in the Public Sector: Evidence from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Journal of Global Information Management, 29:4, 172-194 [in English].

7. Influencer, Marketing Hub.

8. International Committee of the Red Cross.

9. Mirbabaie, M., & Fromm, J. (2019). Reducing the Cognitive Load of Decision-Makers in Emergency Management through Augmented Reality. Proceedings of the 27th European Conference on Information Systems [in English].

10. Mirbabaie, M., Stieglitz, S., & Brunker, F. (2021). Dynamics of Convergence Behaviour in Social Media Crisis Communication - a Complexity Perspective. Information Technology and People (aheadof-print), 1-27 [in English].

11. NATO (2017). Digital Hydra: Security Implications of False Information Online. Riga [in English].

12. Shahi, G.K., Dirkson, A., & Majchrzak, T.A. (2021). An Exploratory Study of COVID-19 Misinformation on Twitter. Online Social Networks and Media, 22:3, 1-16 [in English].

13. Stieglitz, S., Mirbabaie, M., Ross, B., & Neuberger, C. (2018). Social Media Analytics - Challenges in Topic Discovery, Data Collection, and Data Preparation. International Journal of Information Management, 39, 156-168 [in English].

14. Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information Disorder: Interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policy. Strasbourg [in English].

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