Disasters and the Media

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

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2. Perspectives

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. The Context

      • Peter Young

      Pages 7-16

   3. Issues

      • Shirley Harrison

      Pages 17-29

3. Crisis, Emergency and Disaster

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 31-31

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   2. Television News

      • Clive Ferguson

      Pages 36-45

   3. The National Crisis

      • Peter Whitbread

      Pages 46-54

   4. The Local News

      • John Jefferson

      Pages 55-69

   5. The Local Crisis

      • John Jefferson

      Pages 70-85

   6. Communicating in an International Emergency: Northern Iraq from 1991

      • Tom Hardie-Forsyth

      Pages 86-100

   7. Civil Emergencies and the Media: A Central Government Perspective

      • Michael Granatt

      Pages 101-117

4. The Hillsborough Disaster

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 119-119

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   2. A Newspaper at the Heart of the Hillsborough Tragedy

      • Alf Green

      Pages 127-145

   3. A Tale of Two Cities: Liverpool

      • Paddy Marley

      Pages 146-158

   4. A Tale of Two Cities: Sheffield

      • Shirley Harrison

      Pages 159-172

   5. The Management of an Organisation in Crisis

      • Peter Hayes

      Pages 173-184

5. Learning the Lessons

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 185-185

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   2. Training and Rehearsal

      • Peter Whitbread

      Pages 189-202

   3. Media Liaison: Lessons from the Front Line

      • Shirley Harrison

      Pages 203-208

   4. Postscript

      • Shirley Harrison

      Pages 209-213

Crisis management is of increasing importance to organisations. With the rise of single-issue pressure groups, the development of sophisticated and informed consumers and volatile voters, no organisation in the public or private sector can afford to neglect preparation for dealing with the disasters that may befall it. This book aims to improve the relationship between the media and those subject to media scrutiny at a time of crisis or disaster by generating mutual understanding of their needs. Drawing on the experience of practitioners, it aims to disseminate good practice. Part I sets the context and raises some general issues on the theme of communicating at a time of crisis or disaster. Part II looks at the relationships between media and those who are trying to manage the crisis in public relations and public information terms. It contains a number of case studies, each contributed by an expert, clearly explaining how a variety of crises and disasters were managed by the organisations concerned, and how they were reported by the media. Part III is an extended case study of the Hillsborough disaster, taking a candid look at what happened from the perspective of four very different people who were closely involved in the aftermath. The final section includes chapters on the value of training and rehearsal, and some of the lessons learned from Dunblane.

• crisis management
• emergency
• management
• media
• organization
• television

'Shirley Harrison has pulled together an extremely varied and useful account of emergencies and the media, an invaluable resource for all of us, which ever side of the emergencies 'fence' we find ourselves.' - Jon Snow, Civil Protection

• National Union of Journalists, England

  Shirley Harrison

• Institute of Public Relations, USA

  Shirley Harrison

SHIRLEY HARRISON is a Senior Lecturer at Leeds Business School, Leeds Metropolitan University. Prior to that she was Head of Public Relations at Sheffield City Council. She is a member of the Institute of Public Relations.

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