Changing relationships in the apparatus
of crisis communication:
How digital media might influence the relationship between government and
citizen
Naam: Björn Vredenberg
Studentnummer: 3477096
Docent: Asher Boersma
Studiejaar 4
Blok 2
Datum: 2-2-15
Abstract
With the rise of digital media in our society the ways that citizens communicate changes, this
forces government to evolve their apparatus of crisis communication to include digital media
in their crisis communication. Existing research originating in sociology, psychology, and
communication studies do not study the consequences that different media platforms have on the
way that crisis communication takes place. Instead they study the content of the communication,
the methods that people use to communicate or the responses of victims to crises. This study
attempts to fill this knowledge gap by performing an object analysis on the digital media
platforms NL-Alert and Twitter. This paper investigates the affordances and TimeSpace
constructions of digital media to ascertain how these platforms might change the relationship
in crisis communication between citizens and the Dutch government. Two themes are
considered vital to crisis communication: accuracy of information, and the speed and spread
of information. Analysis suggests that digital media can play a significant role in changing the
interactive relationship between citizens and the Dutch government in times of crises.
However there are also limiting factors which make it difficult to say how digital media will
actually influence the interactive relationship between the Dutch government and citizens.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1
1. Introduction
2
1.1 Knowledge gap
3
1.2 Goal
4
1.3 Government policies
4
1.4 Key concepts
5
1.4.1 TimeSpace
5
1.4.2 Affordances
6
1.4.3 Affordances & TimeSpace
7
1.4.4 Spreadable media
7
1.5 Research questions
8
2. Methodology
10
2.1 Corpus
11
2.2 Corporate vs societal crisis
11
2.3 Phases of crisis communication
12
3. Current relationship
14
Interactivity
14
Role of citizens
14
Knowledge monopoly
15
4. Affordances
17
4.1 NL-Alert
17
4.2 Twitter
18
5. Timespace
21
5.1 NL-Alert
21
5.2 Twitter
21
6. The changing relationship
23
Interactivity
23
Role of citizens
23
Knowledge monopoly
24
7. Conclusion
25
Works Cited
26
1
1. Introduction
Traditional information disclosure and control in crisis management in the past focused on
broadcasting media such as television and radio. For example, in the Netherlands people are
urged to close windows and doors when they hear the alarm sirens, and the United States
employs an “Emergency Alert System” (EAS) that allows local or national governments to
“hijack” televisions in a certain area to broadcast critical information about a crisis or
disaster.1 With the evolution of digital technologies - new developments in this area include
mobile media - the Netherlands is working on a system for mobile platforms called NL-Alert.
In the last years media consumption has partly shifted from traditional media like radio and
television, to digital media like the internet blogs and particularly social networking sites
(SNS), which is frequently accessed through mobile technologies, and applications designed
for these technologies. This change in media consumption implies that people receive
information disclosed by governments through different media platforms. Therefore
governments have to adapt their crisis communication tools to continue to reach as many
people as possible in this changing media ecology. This will require a change in the apparatus
of crisis communication that puts more emphasis on digital media.2 This study focuses on the
Dutch government, emergency services, and citizens as entities in communication during
crises. It will study the relationship of governments and citizens in crisis communication and
how these relationships might change with the increasing importance of digital media by
studying the affordances and TimeSpace constructions. Because it is not feasible to discuss
the entire apparatus of communication this study focuses on a selection of digital media in the
apparatus, NL-Alert and Twitter. For each of those media it will study two themes that are
have a strong relation with crisis communication, the accuracy of information, and the spread
and speed of information. The next sections of the introduction will discuss the knowledge
gap in crisis communication regarding the role of media objects and the goal of this paper that
is aimed at filling that gap. The introduction will also summarize the principles of
communication by the Dutch government. This is followed by an introduction of the
theoretical concepts that are used to study and understand Twitter and NL-Alert. These
1
FCC. Emergency Alert System (EAS). October 30, 2014. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/emergency-alert-systemeas (accessed December 19, 2014).
2
An apparatus is best described as the complete collection of tools used for a goal. In the case of crisis
communication this means that the apparatus of crisis communication includes all media used during crises. This
apparatus can vary per crisis or it can be discussed as the entire collection of media available. Examples of media
that are part of the apparatus are
2
include TimeSpace, affordances and spreadable media. The next section will discuss the
research questions that are studied in this paper. The next chapter will discuss the methods
used, justify the corpus chosen, and establish the boundaries in which this study takes place.
The next chapters will form the actual analysis; respectively they will discuss the current
relationship between government and citizens, the affordances, and TimeSpace of NL-Alert
and Twitter, and answer the primary research question.
1.1 Knowledge gap
Crisis communication is not a research field in itself; existing research on this subject is
located in a number of different disciplines. The most important disciplines are sociology,
psychology and communication sciences. Existing research on the subject of crisis
communication and specifically the use of digital media is also primarily researched within
these disciplines. These studies focus on the policies, motivations or reactions of people to
crises by performing experiments or conducting case studies.3 For example, on how social
media can be used to increase alertness, monitoring and two-way communication between
victims and emergency services.4,5 Important authors in this field that try to understand crisis
communication from the perspective of sociology, psychology or communication studies, are
Benoit, Coombs and Seegers.6,7,8 Austin, Liu and Yin focus specifically on digital media, but
from a sociological perspective. 9 , 10 Research from authors whom are grounded in media
theories perform empirical studies, they do not study the media used in crisis communication
3
D Yates and S Paquette, "Emergency knowledge management and social media technologies: A case study of
the 2010 Haitian earthquake." International Journal of Information Management, no. 31 (2011)
4
J D Fraustino. B Liu and Y Jin, Social Media Use During Disasters: A Review of the Knowledge Base and
Gaps. Final Report to Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division, Science and Technology
Directorate, Final Report to Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division, Science and Technology
Directorate, US Department of Homeland Security, College Park: START, 2012.
5
Yates and Paquette, "Emergency knowledge management and social media technologies”, 2011
6
W.T Coombs. “Protecting Organization Reputations During a Crisis: The Development and Application of
Situational Crisis Communication Theory.” Corporate Reputation Review 10, no. 3 (2007): 163-175.
7
Seeger, M W, R R Ulmer, and T L Sellnow. “Post-crisis communication and renewal: Expanding the
parameters of post-crisis discourse.” Public Relations Review 33 (2007): 130-134.
8
W L Benoit, "Image Repair Discourse and Crisis Communication." Public Relations Review 23, no. 2 (1997):
177-186.
9
L L Austin. B F Liu. and Y Jin, "How Audiences Seek Out Crysis Information: Exploring the Social Mediated
Crisis Communication Model." Journal of Applied Communication Research, (February 2012).
10
L L Austin. B F Liu. and Y Jin, "The Tendency to Tell: Understanding Publics' Communicative Responses To
Crisis Information Form and Source." Journal of Public Relations Research, (2013).
3
with hermeneutical methods.11,12,13 There is a gap in knowledge regarding the study of crisis
communication from the perspective of media studies. The fields discussed are all effect
studies, not hermeneutical studies into media specificity, into design and affordance.
1.2 Goal
This paper will try to fill this gap by providing a different point of view on crisis
communication. This is done by providing an object analysis of digital media that focuses on
affordances and TimeSpace constructions of digital media objects that are important for their
use in crisis communication. The goal is to show from media studies perspective how the
communicative relationship of citizens and the Dutch government in crisis communication
might change. This will take into account the specific properties of media platforms in the
changing apparatus, and the way, in which they can create, sustain and expand interactivity
between the governments and citizens before, during or after crises.
1.3 Government policies
The Dutch government formulates three goals for crisis communication:14
Giving meaning: Explaining what the consequences off the crisis are for the general
population.
Information release: Releasing accurate information about the crisis and what is happening.
Damage mitigation: Preventing further damage to persons or property.
Further guidelines state that government communication originating from official sources
should always be accurate. A study from 2012 recognizes that social media can be a valuable
tool in crisis communication.15 However, it does not provide a standardized protocol for the
use of social media during crises. The website from the National Coordinator of
Counterterrorism and Security “NCCS” provides a list of standard communication tools that
11
M Taylor and D C Perry, "Diffusion of traditional and new media tactics in crisis communication." Elsevier,
2005: 209-217.
12
F Schultz, "Is the medium the message? Perceptions of and reactions to crisis communication via twitter,
blogs and traditional media." Public Relations Review, 2011: 1-20.
13
A Hughes. and L Palen. “Twitter Adoption and Use in Mass Convergence and Emergency Events.” Edited by
J Landgren and S Jul. Twitter Adoption and Use in Mass Convergence and Emergency Events.
Gothenburg, 2009. 10.
14
Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst. "Uitgangspunten overheidscommunicatie." www.rijksoverheid.nl. Last Modified
June
1,
2004.
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/overheidscommunicatie/documenten-enpublicaties/richtlijnen/2010/12/09/uitgangspunten-overheidscommunicatie.html (accessed November 29, 2014).
15
J G H Bos. M J van der Veen and K Turk. Twitter in Crisiscommunicatie. Report, Den Haag: Instituut voor
Veiligheids-en Crisismanagement, 2010, 76.
4
are used during crises.16 These include websites, phone numbers, and sirens. However, on the
subject of social media it only provides readers with “Twittertips”. 17 Social media are not a
standard part of the apparatus, instead the use of social media during crisis varies on a percrisis basis and the government agencies involved.18 It does state that experiments are being
done with Twitter. But digital media appear to be a form of media that is not yet widely
accepted as a crisis communication tool by the Dutch government.
1.4 Key concepts
The two key concepts that are used to study the changes in media apparatus are affordances
and TimeSpace. Both concepts describe different aspects of media, but they should be seen as
related entities in our understanding of media platforms shape communication. After defining
TimeSpace and Affordances the relation between these concepts is described. A third key
concept explained in the next sections is spreadable media. This will serve as a mechanism to
increase our understanding of the roles that citizens can play in crisis communication.
1.4.1 TimeSpace
TimeSpace is a concept suggested by John May and Nigel Thrift as a contraption of the
contemporary understandings of time and space.19 TimeSpace is different from Harold Innis
original concepts of time-biased and space-biased media; he argues that in the past
information is either spread in time or in space and that they are separate entities. 20,21 May
and Thrift have eliminated this duality by considering TimeSpace as “multiple,
16
National Coordinator of Counterterrorism and Security is called the Nationaal Coordinator
Terrorismebestrijding en Veiligheid in the Dutch language
17
Twittertips include guidelines on how to make an account, specific instructions on how to use Twitter during
crises, and how to work with Twitter in a restricted government IT environment.
18
NCTV. Crisiscommunicatie. Juli 29, 2014.
http://www.nctv.nl/onderwerpen/crisisbeheersing/crisiscommunicatie/ (accessed December 19, 2014).
19
The concept of TimeSpace comes forth out of the disagreement of May and Thrift with the traditional notions
of time and space. This dualistic approach did not recognize that time and space are interwoven entities that
influence each other.
20
According to Harold Innis, media are biased towards a certain method of information spread, time-biased or
space-biased. Extreme examples of this are Egyptian pyramids, the source of information (the pyramid) is not
movable, and therefore the source of the information cannot transfer information in space. On the other side are
ancient media like papyrus that would decay over time, limiting their ability to spread information over long
periods of time. However, because of their limited weight, they could be spread over a large area quickly.
21
H.A. Innis, H.A. “The Bias of Communication.” Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science 15, no.
4 (1949): 457-476.
5
heterogeneous, uneven and always partial”.
22
They see TimeSpace as a multiplicity of
interconnected TimeSpaces. Every TimeSpace creates its own experiences of time and space,
but they are all connected and therefore partial. Different media can have a different
TimeSpace where the experience time and space are influencing each other. TimeSpace is
also considered as uneven. Even though the term is a contraption of time and space, it does
not mean that time and space have equal significance. Depending on the technology or social
environment, time and space can have a larger or smaller influence on the experience of
TimeSpace, therefore TimeSpace is also considered uneven. This means that there can be a
bias for time or space in TimeSpace depending on the medium studies, but time and space are
thought of as connected entities as opposed to separate entities in Innis original work.
1.4.2 Affordances
Affordances describe the properties of a medium that afford a certain usage of a technology.
By defining the properties, and it also gives direction to the way that a medium can be used
and how communication is shaped. In his book, Bastard Culture, Mirko Schäfer gives a
description of affordances.
Affordance describes the specificity of technology. . . . [it] describes two
characteristics, the material aspects, or the specificity of an object or a technology, and
the affordance imposed on it through the design. Design describes the creation and
shaping of artefacts. Design creates its own affordances but is also subject to the
affordances of the materials utilized.23
Here Schäfer identifies two types of affordances, the material affordance and the design
affordance. The material affordance describes how a physical or digital aspect of a medium
limits the ways it can be used, and thus how it affords certain ways of usage. A design
affordance describes a choice for a certain way of creation and artefact shaping of a medium,
for example; a User Interface is a design affordance that limits the use of the medium to what
the interface provides to the user. By looking at the material and design properties of a
22
23
J May, and N Thrift, "Introduction." In Timespace: Geographies of Temporality, by J May and N Thrift, (New
York: Routledge, 2003), 1-46
M T Schäfer, Bastard Culture! How User Participation Transforms Cultural Production. (Amsterdam:
Amsterdam University Press, 2011), 19-20
6
medium we can gather insights in how a medium affords certain usages. This helps us
understand how a medium can be used by users.
1.4.3 Affordances & TimeSpace
TimeSpace and affordances are fundamentally different concepts. The first describes how we
experience time and space as connected entities in communication, and affordances describe
the properties, limitations and afforded usages of media. However, these concepts are
connected; the properties of a platform, and thus the ways in which a medium can be used,
shape the way communication can take place. The properties of media and the ways in which
communication is shaped influence how we experience time and space. For example: if we
look at Skype, we see that this medium allows us to talk to each other using video. The ability
to talk to one anotehr via video is afforded by the software. Because the medium allows us to
see and hear each other directly, we will experience TimeSpace as being in the same room as
the other person, talking directly to them, experiencing time as near-instantaneous and
without delays.
1.4.4 Spreadable media
The communication that follows the engagement created by a crisis can spread fast and wide
and has a possibility to go what is call ‘viral’. This can be seen in recent events as the terror
attack on the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo in January 2015. A good example of this is the
Twitter hashtag #JeSuisCharlie. The figure below is a data visualisation of the spread and use
of the hashtag. It shows that the engagement with the event spread quickly across the world.
Figure 1 Verhoeven, J. “#JeSuisCharlie: een dag uit het leven van een hashtag [infographic].” Frankwatching.
31 January 2015. http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/2015/01/31/jesuischarlie-een-dag-uithet-leven-van-een-hashtag-infographic/ (accessed January 31, 2015).
7
It is important to consider engagement and the way this motivates people to spread
information during crises. A red line through this paper is the work by Henry Jenkins on what
he calls ‘Spreadable Media”24. In this book he discards the biological metaphor of viral media
for something he refers to as spreadable media.25 He defines this as a way to describe how
content circulates, gets modified and recirculates by the work of users, giving back the agency
in spreading content to users that the metaphor of viral media chooses to ignore in favour of
institutional power and ‘self-spreading’ content. Jenkins discusses spreadable media as a
phenomenon that happens online. Reason for this is the engagement created by crises that
motivates people to discuss such events, and potentially share this information via SNS or
other media. Consequently, effective crisis communication requires a concept that describes
how information spreads but also gives the agency and possibilities to spread information, and
create ‘grassroot’ initiatives to the citizens.26
1.5 Research questions
The primary research question that will be studied in this paper is this:
How might the digital media platforms in the changing apparatus of crisis
communication change the interactive relationship between governments and citizens
in crisis communication in the Netherlands, when looking at affordances and
Timespace of digital media platforms?
This question will be answered by studying the affordances and Timespace constructions of
digital media within the Dutch apparatus of crisis communication. This allows us to describe
how the relationship of citizens and governments might change when looking at the media
platforms by the Dutch government and citizens used during crises. It will also give insight in
24
H Jenkins, S Ford, and J Green, Spreadable Media. (New York: New York University Press, 2013),19-22
Jenkins discards the viral metaphor because it removes the agency of spreading information from users and
assigns it to the institutions releasing the information. This implies that content can be designed to go viral and
that institutions can control it. Jenkins discards this notion in favor of a concept that affords the agency on
content spread to users
26
For example; initial information during a crisis can be received through television. What someone learns there
can be adapted to create online ‘grassroot’ initiatives to gather help or spread information. The process of
gaining information, adapting it, and then recirculating it online will have started in an offline medium and will
have progressed into a digital environment. If we would stick to Jenkins conceptualization of spreadable media
as an activity that happens purely online, the step from offline to online and back to offline media cannot be
explained. Secondly, the definitions given to “viral media” suggest that content is self-spreading or can be
created with the intention to spread. This does allow for users reconstructing information to create their own
initiatives.
25
8
what makes certain media useful as a tool in crisis communication, these insights can support
further research into this area. A number of secondary research questions are formulated that
will progressively lead to the answer to the main question:
-
What is the current interactive relationship between government and citizens in
crisis communication?
-
What are the affordances of the digital media NL-alert and Twitter, in the context
of their use in crisis communication?
-
How do NL-alert and Twitter construct TimeSpace during crisis communication?
9
2. Methodology
The primary method for this paper is the Material Object Analysis to analyse digital media
objects. The media selected are NL-Alert and Twitter. A justification for these choices can be
found in the corpus section.
This study identifies several themes that best describe the goals of crisis communication.
-
Accuracy of information: An important goal in crisis communication is to prevent
further damage, spreading accurate information is vital for this.
-
Spread and speed of information: The ways that information about a crisis spreads
amongst people and networked cultures, and the speed in which information is
released and spread. This also includes information used by citizens to create
initiatives.
This chapter will analyse three important aspects of the interactive relationship: 1)
interactivity, which describes how communication takes place, 2) the role of citizens in this
process, and 3) the challenged information monopoly. Chapter three will discuss the current
relationship using these three aspects as a framework to structure the argument. Chapters four
and five will discuss the affordances and TimeSpace constructions of NL-Alert and Twitter.
Chapter six will answer the research question by combining the insights about the current
relationship, the affordances, and TimeSpace constructions into an analysis about how the
interactive relationship might change when we consider the potential of digital media
platforms.
Affordances and TimeSpace will be analysed by employing the methodology of a
Material Object Analysis. This method focuses on media as objects, the elements they are
comprised off, but not on the direct results in user behaviour. By looking at the design
features and technical possibilities and limitations of a media platform we can describe its
affordances. Affordances tell give us insights about the possible usage of a medium. This will
help us to understand how different media create TimeSpace in crisis communication.
Chapter six will provide an analysis of the information and insights gathered in the
previous questions. This will answer the research question about how the interactive
relationship of governments and citizens might change when taking into account the specific
properties of media objects.
10
2.1 Corpus
Studying the entire apparatus is not realistic in the scope of this paper. Therefore, two types of
digital media objects are researched in this paper. One is the mobile platform NL-Alert, the
other the social networking site Twitter. These two media together provide us with an
interesting dualism. Twitter is a privately owned messaging network; it is widely used by
citizens and allows people to engage in conversations. During crisis this means that users of
Twitter can spread information quickly to other users. This property creates issues with the
accuracy of information spread.27.28 An opposite of the inaccurate, privately owned SNS is
NL- Alert. This is a government run alert system with the primary goal of informing people
about the nature and dangers during a crisis. It broadcasts text messages to mobile phones to
alert people of an impending crisis. It does this by using a technique called ‘Cell
Broadcasting’, this technique entails the message being sent to every mobile phone within the
reach of a certain cell tower. It does not send traditional text messages but something similar
to push notifications, stress on the carrier network does not influence the effectiveness of the
system. The information released is verified by the government and therefore can be assumed
to be accurate. This is an opposite of Twitter where citizen journalism can spread false
information.
The corpus for this study is a dualistic selection. One medium that is private, run by
citizens with the possibility to interact in conversations, that can be inaccurate, versus a
government run medium that provides verified information via a one-way information
channel. Together this provides an interesting corpus to describe the changing relationship
between government and citizens because it allows us to view these potential changes from
the perspective of both government and citizens.
2.2 Corporate vs societal crisis
Contemporary research into crisis communication makes a distinction between corporate
crisis, and societal crisis where the task to communicate about the crises is reserved for
27
M. Wood. “Twitter needs to deal with the Twitter Accuracy Problem.” Cnet. 23 April 2013.
http://www.cnet.com/news/twitter-needs-to-deal-with-the-twitter-accuracy-problem/ (accessed January
27, 2015).
28
The article on Cnet shows an example of how an inaccurate Twitter message had an immediate influence on
the stock market. This shows that reactions of the public are vulnerable to misinformation on Twitter.
11
governments and emergency services.29 This paper will focus on the crises and disasters that
encompass a significant role for government or emergency services. Fundamental differences
between corporate and societal crisis can be seen in the goals, scientific discourse and in
different case studies. Research into corporate issues generally focuses on mismanagement,
PR problems or corporate crises that have a physical impact on the environment. 30,31,32,33
Studies into societal crises or natural disasters do not focus on PR problems, but instead focus
on the responses of governments, emergency services or citizens to crises, and the different
media platforms used by governments.34,35,36
2.3 Phases of crisis communication
Crisis communication takes place in several phases. Research generally identifies three main
phases in crisis communication; pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis.37, 38 This study will focus on
the interactive relationship during all three phases. The meaning of each of these phases is
explained below and will help us understand how the relationship between citizens and
government might be shaped during different phases of a crisis.
Pre-crisis: Preparing for a crisis includes preparations, warnings and signalling pre-crisis
indicators, such as high water levels in rivers, and communicating this to citizens.
Crisis: the communicative response to the actual crisis. In this phase citizens in the affected
areas need to be informed of the crisis, the crisis needs to be directed, priorities need to be set
and managed. This also needs to be communicated to the public.
29
Examples for corporate crises are: product recalls, environmental damage, industrial accidents that damage the
image of the company and the resulting public relations (PR) issues. Examples of societal crises are:
natural disasters, terrorist attacks, major fires, floods or industrial accidents that form a risk to public
health.
30
Benoit, "Image Repair Discourse and Crisis Communication.", 1997
31
W T Coombs. Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding. 4rd. Florida: SAGE,
2012.
32
T L Sellnow. “Scientific Argument in Organizational Crisis Communication: The Case of Exxon.”
Argumentation and Advocacy 30, no. 1 (1993): 28-42.
S Muralidharan. K Dillistone. and J-H Shin. “The Gulf Coast oil spill: Extending the theory of image
restoration discourse to the realm of social media and beyond petroleum.” Public Relations Review 37,
no. 3 (April 2011): 226-232.
34
LAustin. Liu. and Jin, "How Audiences Seek Out Crysis Information: 2012
35
Yates and Paquette, "Emergency knowledge management and social media technologies, 2011
36
In the Netherlands the sirens and NL-Alert are unique systems that are exclusively used by the government
and not by corporations
37
Coombs. Ongoing crisis communication: 2012
38
Seeger. Ulmer. and Sellnow. “Post-crisis communication and renewal: Expanding the parameters of post-crisis
discourse.”, 2007
33
12
Post-crisis: This occurs after the direct crisis has been resolved. The line between this phase
and the previous phase is blurry. It is hard to distinguish when one crisis ends and another one
starts as a result of the first crisis.39 Recovery, lessons learned, and research into preventing a
similar incident also fall in this category.
39
A crisis can also run over into new crises. In the case of the Haiti earthquake, the direct crisis that resulted
from the earthquake was shortly followed by a cholera outbreak that resulted from the lack of clean
water and hygiene, evolving the existing crisis into a public health issue.
13
3. Current relationship
This chapter will give a short description of the current interactive relationship between the
Dutch government and citizens in crisis communication. In chapter two, we identified three
important aspects of this relationship that influence the way communication about crises takes
place: interactivity between citizens and governments, the role of citizens during crisis, and
the challenged knowledge monopoly. This chapter will look at several recent crises to assist
in explaining how these three aspects are currently defined in the relationship.
Interactivity
Traditional information disclosure is primarily one-way. The government has the task to
inform citizens, but the opportunities for citizens to come into contact directly with the
institutions handling a crisis are less abundant. The government research into Twitter
recognizes this. Stating that a two-way approach might be possible, but this would require
increased efforts. The role for the Dutch government in crisis communication is focused on
limiting the damage, offering help, informing people about crisis and providing answers about
responsibility. But it is currently not equipped to deal in two-way communication during
crises. Current government policies primarily view the citizen as a recipient of information
during the first and second phase of crisis communication, and not necessarily as a provider of
information to emergency services.40
Role of citizens
Depending on the crisis there can be several roles for citizens in the process of crisis
communication. As mentioned, the government views citizens as a recipient of information.
However, this does not fully concur with the actions of citizens during crisis. If we look at the
MH17 crash that took place in July 2014, we see that citizens, who are active on social media,
came into contact with information regarding the crash that was spread via Twitter, before the
government had released a statement. It is unclear if the government got information via
official sources, or responded to information spread online. But it is clear that citizens played
a role in the pre-crisis phase by signalling the crisis. On the other hand we can look at the
escaped Cobra in Made here people were alerted off the danger via NL-Alert.41 Additionally,
40
41
Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst. “Uitgangspunten overheidscommunicatie.”, 2004
Twitter. Search results for #cobra. n.d.
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23cobra%20lang%3Anl%20since%3A2014-09-04%20until%3A201409-06&src=typd (accessed Febuary 1, 2015).
14
information was spread via Twitter and citizens played a role in keeping other people up to
date about the search for the snake. In this case it is possible citizens received initial
information
via
NL-Alert
mainstream
media.
People
or
then
started searching themselves and kept
other people up to date via Twitter. It
is hard to describe the exact role of
citizens because this varies per crisis.
What these examples do show is that
people are willing and able to
participate in crisis communication
by signalling crisis, expressing their
emotions or by setting up civilian
initiatives. In the MH17 case this
Google Maps map that holds a
visualisation of the resident locations
Figure 2 Location visualisation Google. Slachtoffers MH17.
2014.
of all victims was created. In the https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=zYm
crisis with the missing Cobra citizens WZjjFjqeI.k5yYInaoJDUc (accessed January 10, 2015).
played a role during the crisis phase by keeping the public up to date. For the current situation
regarding the role of citizens we conclude that there is a discrepancy in the way that the
government views citizens and the way that citizens act during crisis.
Knowledge monopoly
In traditional crisis situations the government has a monopoly on information. In the past
when SNS were still less popular, citizens and for a large part also news agencies, were
dependent on the government to release information about a crisis. In the last few years this
monopoly is being challenged by SNS. Social media allow information to be spread across
the globe almost instantly, outpacing the speed in which the government can verify facts and
release an accurate statement. The speed of social media can create the perception that the
government is “lagging behind” in their information disclosure, and this can lead to more
pressure to release information. This was seen in the MH17 disaster. Mainstream media,
experts and normal citizens were responding emotionally, demanding answers that the
15
government was not ready to give.42 For the early phases of this crisis this switched the task
of handling crisis communication from the government to citizen journalism, while the
government was still trying to catch up to information and speculation online. This
speculation leads to inaccurate information, which strengthens the importance of government
information. It can be argued that this situation is unique because it did not take place and
Dutch soil. However, not all crisis challenge the knowledge monopoly in the same way. In
case of the fire in Roermond on December 6th and 7th in 2014, the information monopoly
remained with the government. An NL-Alert was released, telling people to stay indoors
while the crisis was handled by emergency agencies. It is in such situations that the monopoly
of knowledge that the government used to hold is most obviously challenged.
42
A recent example of this is the crash with MH17 in the Ukraine. After the plane got supposedly shot down, a
rebel commander tweeted about this incident and posted a video. This tweet was soon removed and quickly
replaced with an accusation aimed at the Ukrainian government. Word of this tweet was quickly spread
throughout Twitter and other social media, and news agencies picked this up as well. It is very likely a large
group of people was already notified about the incident before the Dutch government got officially informed by
the Ukrainian government, Air Traffic controllers or other relevant agencies.
16
4. Affordances
Affordances are categorized in two types; the material affordance, and the design affordance.
Material affordances originate in the technological properties and possibilities of a platform;
these can be aspects like the server structure used or technologies chosen. A design
affordance originates in the design of a platform. This can be things like the 140 character
limit on Twitter, or the structure of the user interface (UI) that influences how a medium
platform is used or content is displayed. Here we will discuss both material and design
affordances.
4.1 NL-Alert
Cell broadcasting
Cell broadcasting is an important material affordance of NL-Alert. The system does not send
traditional text messages but instead uses what is best described as push messages. In theory
every mobile phone that is within range of a cell tower in the area that has to be alerted, will
receive a message with information regarding the crisis at hand. This is allows the system to
alert everyone in a certain area regardless of network load and what phone they are using.
However, the system currently works with an opt-in system. Some devices will automatically
receive the messages but certain devices or brands (it is unclear which) require manual
configuration for the broadcast channel used. This choice in technological limitations
influences the effectiveness of the medium. Currently the Dutch government is running test
with the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA).43 WEA is a system already used in the United
States and it is a standardized frequency that is supported by more mobile devices then the
frequencies and systems currently used by NL-Alert.
Mobile
The mobile material affordance to make NL-Alert a system focused on mobile
communication makes it a significant evolution from traditional situations in the past where
citizens relied on television or radio for information. The mobile aspect makes
communication faster, and more effective. Now citizens can be reached even when not tuned
in to these broadcasting channels, when they are for instance not at home or not in a car.
43
Rijksoverheid. NL-Alert. 2014. http://www.nl-alert.nl/ (accessed December 19, 2014).
—. “NL-Alert test vrijdag 13 september extra kanaal.” NL-Alert. 13 September 2013. http://www.nl-alert.nl/nlalert_test_vrijdag_13_september/ (accessed December 28, 2014).
17
During the pre-crisis or crisis phase of a crisis, the government can spread information faster,
wider and more selective then when using traditional media. Nearly every citizen can be
reached personally. Instead of reaching households with television, NL-Alert can reach
individual people regardless of their location in the affected area. This focus on mobile
technologies also affords citizens to share received information on other media like SNS.
Broadcasting
NL-Alert is a broadcasting system, a material affordance that limits the way that
communication can take place. Because of the systems technical functionalities it sends a
push message. This makes it a one-way communication tool that does not allow citizens to
respond directly to the message. It should be viewed as a digital evolution of the traditional
sirens. Sirens work only with an audio signal that only alerts people that “something is
wrong”, they communicate an audible alert into the atmosphere. NL-Alert is an evolution of
this that gives an alert that is tactile, as most mobile phones also vibrate, audible; if ringtones
are switched on, and visible text that communicates context instead of a ‘something is wrong’
audio signal.
Accuracy
Accurate information is critical in crisis communication. Accuracy is a design affordance in
NL-Alert because it is controlled by a reliable institute. One of the main policies in
communication set by the Dutch government is that government communication should
always be reliable. Users that receive a NL-Alert alert therefore trust that the information
provided to them is accurate.44
4.2 Twitter
Spreadability
An important design affordance on Twitter is the possibility to spread content to your
followers. This is relevant in crisis communication because a message send on Twitter can be
retweeted to form a chain of retweets that is best illustrated as an oil spill spreading on water.
44
Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst. “Uitgangspunten overheidscommunicatie.”, 2004
18
Examples of this can be seen in the communication regarding the MH17 crash. 45 The
engagement created by the event then made sure the information was spread to mainstream
media and other social networks. Spreadability and the ability to add information when
retweeting makes the platform useful in crisis communication. Information spread by the
government can also be repurposed, or modified to convey an alternate message like shelters,
or more accurate information, to set up civil, grassroot initiatives.
An issue raised by the spreadability is the inaccuracy of twitter. An article by Cnet
shows that the public can quickly to any information spread via social media, without first
checking its validity.46 This consequence of spreadability can form a risk for its use during
crisis communication. If a lot of false information is spread, the medium will become less
trustworthy.
Mobile
The mobile aspect of Twitter is an important material affordance in its context as a crisis
communication tool. Citizens can access information shared by the government or emergency
services everywhere and are not limited to their homes. Citizens can also contribute in all the
phases of crisis communication, pre-crisis, crisis, and the post crisis phase by sharing
information relevant to the incident or alerting other people in a crisis zone of safe areas or
other useful information. This can all be done on the move with mobile devices making
Twitter a flexible system to be used during crisis.
User Interaction
User interaction is a key component of Twitter. Its goal is not only to share information but to
connect people as well. This design affordance is crucial in crisis communication. It can allow
governments and emergency agencies to interact in a two-way communication process,
swapping out information. This ability to interact, rather than to broadcast information, allows
citizens to play an important role in the first two phases of crisis communication. Citizens can
45
A rebel commander posted a Tweet claiming responsibility for shooting down an aircraft, when they realized
it was a commercial airliner, the tweet was removed. But by then people following that person had already
spread the information.
46
M. Wood. “Twitter needs to deal with the Twitter Accuracy Problem.”, 2013
19
use Twitter to provide intelligence about impending crisis, influence priorities for emergency
services or let other victims know where help can be found.
Archiving
Existing crisis communication tools do not save the information they provide in a way that is
accessible for citizens; television, radio, warning systems such as sirens or NL-Alert only
send information once and they do not save it for later viewing. The exceptions to this are
websites being used during crises. Twitter saves all tweets by default. This archiving function
is an important design affordance of Twitter. Information shared by governments or other
citizens does not have to be viewed directly. It can be recalled later if the need arises. Citizens
can also get a clear picture of the development of a crisis by studying the consecutive tweets
made about a crisis. The hashtags that Twitter employs, while also benefiting spreadability,
also serves as a categorization tool that helps retrieve past information.
20
5. Timespace
With the affordances discussed in the last chapter we can look at how these properties
influence how TimeSpace is constructed. TimeSpace consists of two uneven elements; time
and space. In the context of crisis communication the ‘time’ element of TimeSpace describes
the temporal perception that citizens have when communicating about crises. The spatial
element is best descripted as the geographical or virtual reach of information that creates the
spatial experience in crisis communication. Together time and space form TimeSpace where
both elements are related and influence each other. This chapter will look at the ways in
which the affordances of NL-Alert and Twitter influence how TimeSpace experiences are
created for government and citizens involved in a crisis.
5.1 NL-Alert
The space element of Timespace in NL-Alert is primarily defined by its technological
background, cell broadcasting. All configured mobile phones in a certain area will receive a
message. So every individual cell tower creates its own Timespace cluster. The reach of the
experience of space is defined by the limits of the cell tower. NL-Alert is a digital medium so
every device within range will receive the message instantly without time-delay. The space
geography includes the entire area reached by the message and not just the direct crisis area.
In this sense it is a very similar platform to the traditional sirens. NL-Alert still only provides
a one-way information channel. But instead of an audio signal, the message now holds
content to describe the incident. NL-Alert broadcasts information without an archiving
function, so any information is only spread at the moment of broadcasting. The construction
of TimeSpace by NL-Alert therefore does not save information over time, the content is
primarily spread over space, and not in long durations of time. This leads to the conclusion
that NL-Alert is an important medium to gives citizens significantly more information
instantly. Because citizens have better information more quickly they can spread the
information to others via word-of-mouth or other media, expanding the geographic reach of
the information. It is conceivable that NL-Alert will shorten the time before information is
modified to create similar grassroot civilian initiatives.
5.2 Twitter
Timespace in Twitter is constructed different from NL-Alert. An important aspect of Twitter
is the user interaction affordance that allows two-way communication to take place. When
information is released via Twitter it spreads instantly to a fixed number of people that
depends on the number of followers that follow the account that releases information. This
21
creates a Timespace experience similar to NL-Alert. However, Twitter allows content to be
retweeted and categorized via hashtags. So the spatial experience in will change as more
people share the information or categorize it with hashtags. Content posted on Twitter, spread
by the actions of users, creates an expanding Timespace in which communication takes place.
Additionally, information can also be shared to other media like Facebook. The spatial
experience is also expanding into other media via direct sharing or switching back and forth
to online environments. Timespace in Twitter is unique in crisis communication because it
allows governments and citizens to interact in two-way communication. This significantly
increases the possibilities for citizens to play a role in the first two phases of crisis
communication. Using Twitter people can signal the government about dangers or give
information about where the priorities for emergency services should be.
Twitter creates Timespace over longer periods of time. The hashtag function and the
design of the network allows for archiving and retrievability of tweeted content.
Communication that is categorised and saved is important for citizens to create their own
initiatives and share this information. With an engagement-creating incident, the speed at
which new information spreads can be high. Having the possibility to search for information
relevant to you can be vital, for example to find shelter.
22
6. The changing relationship
The last two chapters looked at the affordances and Timespace constructions of NL-Alert and
Twitter. With the insights gathered about the properties, possibilities and ways
communication is constructed. We can now look at how this might change the relationships
between citizens and the Dutch government when the studied media are used to their full
potential. The analysis shows that NL-Alert is an evolution of sirens and does not offer
possibilities to change the relationship because it does not offer new communication channels.
Analysis of Twitter shows that this medium and social media in general have the possibilities
to change the relationship from a one-way process into a two-way process, effectively
allowing citizens to play a larger and more important role in crisis communication.
Interactivity
Currently the communication protocols focus on one-way broadcasting of information. The
addition to apparatus of crisis communication does not fully change this as NL-Alert is still
based on one-way broadcasting, the platform has no properties that can change the way
governments and citizens interact. The analysis of Twitter reveals that his medium allows for
two-way communication, allowing citizens to play a larger role in the three phases of crisis
communication. Instead of recipients of information, social media might turn citizens in
active providers of information or aid. Increased interactivity might change the relationship
between the Dutch government and citizens when two-way communication repurposes crisis
communication. An evolved relationship can combine the trusted delivery of accurate
information by the government, and spread and initiatives of information by social media.
Role of citizens
The analysis of NL-Alert and Twitter show that digital media have the potential to change the
relationship. Right now the role for citizens is primarily passive with the government
approaching citizens as passive actors. The analysis shows that Twitter in specific and social
media in general have the potential to allow an active role for citizens. This wish and ability
to have an active role can already been seen in several grassroot initiatives. For example:
during the tsunami in Japan people used information to create maps with data about the
23
tsunami.47,48 This shows the media platforms have the potential and the users have the will to
play an active role in the first two phases of crisis communication, instead of being limited to
provide suggestions to the government for the aftermath in the third phase. Yet the potential
to advance this relationship is not being fulfilled.
Knowledge monopoly
When talking about a challenged knowledge monopoly the assumption is that the party
currently controlling the flow of information is losing control of that flow. NL-Alert aims at
keeping the control over information at the government. However, the analysis of Twitter
shows that this medium can challenge the knowledge monopoly and some examples show
that this monopoly is being challenged. Events in the Ukraine and in Paris are evidence of
this. However, the incidents in Roermond and Made show that in local crisis the government
still plays a dominant role. Information spread on social media outruns the speed in which the
government can release information. The discussed inaccuracy of Twitter can be a problem
here in the cases where Twitter plays a large role. If the knowledge monopoly is challenged,
then using the entities that challenge the monopoly to gather accurate knowledge can be a
solution. In this case the government can crowdsource information circulated by the public to
enhance its own information and create cooperative relationship instead of a sender-receiver
relation.
47
H Gao. G Barbier. and R Goolsby. “Harnessing the crowdsourcing power of social media for disaster relief.”
IEE Intelligent Systems, 2011: 10-14.
48
Google. Slachtoffers MH17. 2014.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=zYmWZjjFjqeI.k5yYInaoJDUc (accessed January
10, 2015).
24
7. Conclusion
This study aimed to provide insights in the changing apparatus of crisis communication and
how this might change the relationships between government and citizens. When studying the
current relationship, we observed that this relationship is already changing because of the
influence of digital media. However, citizens are still viewed as passive actors in the
communication process. When analysing affordances and Timespace, it becomes clear that
the possibilities of digital media for crisis communication offer chances for a greater
integration in crisis communication compared to the current situation. However, the fact that a
medium is digital does not mean that it might change the relationship between government
and citizens. NL-Alert offers better information more effectively then sirens, but it does not
allow citizens to play a larger role by participating in two-way communication or setting up
civil grassroot initiatives to offer aid. Twitter and SNS in general have much more promise to
change the relationship. Most importantly, Twitter offers a way to share, archive and engage
in two-way communication. This can greatly enhance the relationship by creating a
cooperative relation in the several phases of crisis communication.
These results can be placed in the broader discussion about crisis communication.
They partly fill the gap in knowledge regarding the insights in the role of media in crisis
communication. This study adds a better understanding of the role of media platforms in crisis
communication to the discourse about crisis communication. It also adds how they the
interactive relationship between the government and users might change when considering the
media platforms used. The results can be used by other researchers to increase their
understanding of crisis communication.
Some limitations to this study are that this paper only studied two media platforms out
of the entire apparatus used. Future research could study a different or larger sample to get a
more comprehensive picture of the workings of crisis communication. One aspect of crisis
communication that presents a problem for research focusing on the broader perspective,
instead of on specific cases, is the fact that each crisis is unique. In some of the examples in
this study, MH17 versus local crisis like Roermond and Made, we can already see that all
crises are handled differently, with different roles for users and media platforms used. This
presents an obstacle for attempts to give a broad description of the role of media platforms in
crisis communication. Future research might attempt to identify aspects of media objects that
are homogenous to all crises; this will help create a general theory of crisis communication.
25
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