Risk & Crisis Communication

Risk is an inherent part of science communication. The very nature of scientific investigation or assessment means that there is always a risk or a percentage probability that the research results have a margin of error. This has implications for journalists and communicators who write and talk about scientific and technological research and its products, particularly where such research may have a direct impact on society such as health, medical, technological and environmental research.  Crises are unexpected threats for which response time is short. Their origins can be natural (as with ice storms or tsunamis) or human (as with acts of terrorism or oil spills or in reaction to some activists’ claims about the toxicity of a product which then has to be recalled globally).

Our course explores how to (and how not to) communicate scientific risk and how to deal with serious challenges to public safety during a crisis. To do so, it draws on both theoretical and practical approaches to communicating with diverse audiences about scientific risk or in risk-related crisis situations.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. explain how science assesses natural and technological risks and how this differs from public perceptions of risk and hazard
2. explain the principles of risk communication, particularly when the scientific topics have been politicized
3. describe the communication process in the context of a crisis
4. demonstrate the basic requirements of a risk communication / crisis response plan
5. demonstrate skills in interpreting risk or hazard for a lay audience
6. demonstrate skills in journalistic writing about risk or crisis situations, including the interpretation of research papers and statistics
7. recognize the conditions under which authorities define a social problem as a crisis
8. assess how the public and private sectors use perceptions of risk and hazard to effect policy changes
9. describe cultural differences in how perceptions of risk vary between regions, including Europe, Asia and North America
10. demonstrate research, observation, scholarly-writing and presentation skills