Prelims

Half Title Page

SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN CRISIS AND RISK COMMUNICATION

Title Page

SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN CRISIS AND RISK COMMUNICATION: EMERGENCIES, CONCERNS AND AWARENESS

EDITED BY

HARALD HORNMOEN

Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

KLAS BACKHOLM

Åbo Akademi University, Vasa, Finland

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2018

Copyright © Harald Hornmoen and Klas Backholm

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence (CC BY 4.0).

Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this book (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78756-272-1 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78756-269-1 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78756-271-4 (Epub)

Acknowledgements

The editors and authors gratefully acknowledge The Research Council of Norway (grant no. 233975/H20), Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet) and the Högskolestiftelsen i Österbotten Foundation for the funding that made this book, and the research it builds on, possible. A special thank you to Berit Berg Tjørhom, coordinator of the Societal Security and Safety programme (SAMRISK II) of The Research Council of Norway. We also wish to thank Senior Adviser Vibeke Helén Moe at the Department of Research and Development (OsloMet) for her helpful advice and encouraging support when we developed the research application for the RESCUE project.

We thank our interviewees, whether public authorities, crisis communicators in rescue organisations or journalists, for sharing their experiences and lessons learned using social media in risks and crises. Special appreciation goes to the interviewed victims who survived the Utøya tragedy in Norway for sharing their thoughts on how they used social media to cope with the trauma.

We thank our RESCUE project Advisory Board members for their valuable input during the process: Hildegunn Fallang (Political Advisor, survivor of the Utøya terrorist attack), Kristina Brekke Jørgensen (former Communication Advisor, Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergency Planning, Norway), Henriette Magnussen (Communication Advisor, Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergency Planning, Norway), Hannu-Pekka Laiho (former Communications Director, Finnish Red Cross), Thomas Meier (Head of Public Relations, State Fire Brigade Association in Styria, Austria), Werner Müllner (Deputy Editor in Chief and CIO, Austrian Press Agency), Odd Einar Olsen (Professor of Crisis Management, University of Stavanger, Norway), Nick Phin (Deputy Director for National Infection Service, Public Health England), Annette Rinne (Communications Director, Regional State Administrative Agency in Western and Mid-Finland) and Ingeborg Volan (former Head of Social Media, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation).

Finally, we are grateful to our Language Editor, Mark Palmer, and to our Publisher Jen McCall and our Editorial Assistant Rachel Ward for guiding the project through to publication.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and is freely available to read online.

Open Access

About the Editors

Harald Hornmoen is Professor of Journalism within the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. He has coordinated the research project on which this book is based: Researching Social Media and Collaborative Software Use in Emergency Situations (RESCUE). His research interests include risk and environmental communication, science journalism and literary journalism. Hornmoen’s recent publications include ‘Environmentally Friendly Oil and Gas Production’: Analyzing Governmental Argumentation and Press Deliberation on Oil Policy, Environmental Communication, 12(2), 2018, and the co-edited book Putting a Face on It: Individual Exposure and Subjectivity in Journalism (Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk, 2017).

Klas Backholm, PhD, is the Coordinator of the Mass Communication Programme at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. His research areas include usability-testing of technical innovations for journalism, and the psychological well-being of journalists after work-related crisis exposure. Backholm’s recent publications include ‘Crises, Rumours and Reposts: Journalists’ Social Media Content Gathering and Verification Practices in Breaking News Situations’, Media and Communication, 5(2), 2017, and ‘Distress Among Journalists Working the Incidents’ The Wiley Handbook of the Psychology of Mass Shootings (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2016).

About the Contributors

Julian Ausserhofer, PhD, is the Deputy Head of AUSSDA – The Austrian Social Science Data Archive. His research interests include political communication in social media and digital methods in journalism and the social sciences.

Elsebeth Frey is Associate Professor at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. Her research interests include crisis journalism and trauma, press freedom, core values in journalism and online journalism.

Maria Theresa Konow-Lund, PhD, is Associate Professor at Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University, and Marie Curie Slodowska-fellow, Cardiff University, UK. She has published in Digital Journalism, Journalism Practice, Nordicom Review and Routledge Companion to Media and Humanitarian Action (2017). She also has vast experience as a professional journalist.

Eva Goldgruber is Lecturer and Researcher at the Institute of Journalism and Public Relations at FH JOANNEUM – University of Applied Sciences Graz, Austria. Her research interests are in online communication, web technology, education and their intersections.

Robert Gutounig is Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Institute of Journalism and Public Relations at FH JOANNEUM – University of Applied Sciences Graz, Austria. He holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Graz. His research interest focuses on media transformations in the digital age.

Joachim Högväg is Planner at Experience Lab, Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Högväg does research in experimental psychology, cognitive psychology and cognitive science.

Jørn Knutsen is Interaction Designer and Associate Professor at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (Arkitektur og -designhøgskolen i Oslo).

Jenny Lindholm, PhD, is Researcher and Lecturer at Political Science with Mass Communication, Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Her research interests include experimental laboratory studies and the political implications of crises.

Per Helge Måseide is Physician and Specialist in Children’s Health in Norway. He holds a Master’s degree in Health Care Management from the University of Oslo. He also works as Editor-in-Chief for a quarterly journal for medical doctors and students.

Colin McInnes holds the UNESCO Chair in HIV/AIDS Education and Health Security in Africa at Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK, and is the University’s Director of Research. His research concerns the politics of global health and he is the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Global Health Politics (OUP, 2018).

Rune Ottosen is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. His research interests include press history, media coverage of war and conflicts and the role of journalists.

Gudrun Reimerth is Lecturer and Project Director in Public Relations at the Institute of Journalism and Public Relations at FH JOANNEUM – University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria.

Susanne Sackl-Sharif holds a PhD in Sociology and Musicology and is Lecturer and Researcher at the Institute of Journalism and Public Relations at FH JOANNEUM – University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria. Her research interests are in social media, online communication, gender studies, popular cultures and political participation.

Steen Steensen is Professor of Journalism and Head of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. His research interests include journalism and digital/social media, theories of journalism and reportage/literary journalism.

Even Westvang is one of the founders of Sanity.io (Oslo, Norway), specialising in concept development, user interface design and data visualisation.