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Despite a ravaging pandemic worldwide, Vietnam managed to contain the local outbreak, partly owing to its carefully implemented risk communications campaign. This chapter investigated the effectiveness of official Vietnam government communications, the sentiment of foreign media reporting on Vietnam, and any challenges. Content analysis was applied to samples from government communications (43 samples); international articles (46); and social media conversations (33). Official government communications were quite accurate, timely, and effective in displaying transparency, employing war symbolism, and shared responsibility, but should more clearly separate between state and expert, offer differing views, and highlight the benefits of compliance. International articles praised the government's viral PSA TikTok video, its transparency, and the netizens' nationalist narratives. While some evidence was found for infodemic, blaming, and heroization, the sample was too small to be conclusive. Future studies should expand the timeframe to a longer duration, quantitatively appraise a wider sampling of social media conversations, and possibly conduct primary interviews with experts, policy makers, and the public.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method in safety risk assessment on communication system based on satellite constellations through constructing safety risk index system.

An empirical study using the AHP was carried out to find the relative weights of those assessment criterion and sub‐objectives of subsystem. Then the risk scores of 15 sub‐objectives and four subsystems were calculated applying the AHP method according to the assessment result of experts.

According to the overall results from the estimation of experts the safety risk priority of net application is the highest and the safety risk priority of attack on physical equipment is the lowest. This explained that the possibility of a war in today's era, in which peace and development is the theme is very small, and risk prevention should focus more on the defense of network attacks from enemies.

This paper provides a positive analysis of safety risk for a communication system based on satellite constellations and gives an opinion in accordance with the assessment result.

An AHP method was applied in the security risk assessment of communications systems on satellite constellation and the estimation of facing risk situation of the satellite communication system was presented according to the opinion of experts.

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the adaptation of communication strategies set out in the pre-crisis plan implemented by the members of Quebec’s public safety authorities in the specific case of the rail explosion and fire that destroyed the downtown of Lac-Mégantic in July 2013.

Based on a triangulation approach combining three qualitative methodologies, namely in-depth interviews, analysis of communication artifacts, and news analysis, this research aims to determine how public safety authorities used the existing crisis management plan at the time of the Lac-Mégantic crisis. It also seeks to determine whether or not the crisis managers used emergent communication strategies, as defined by Mintzberg (2007). Finally, the case study also seeks to identify potentially unforeseen contextual elements that influenced the communication strategies deployed.

The analysis reveals that the disaster, whose magnitude and consequences were unprecedented in Canada, prompted those in charge of public safety to review the established crisis management communication strategies and practices in order to adapt to the realities of a particular terrain and context. It is important to mention, first, that the crisis was managed in an unforeseen context of a twofold digital divide that created a dead zone for emergency and public health messages; and, second, that direct communication with the victims revealed major difficulty in understanding such messages (literacy). As a result, the traditional and digital communication strategies established in the crisis management plan had to be rapidly reviewed in order to incorporate “old-fashioned” communication tools, such as giving out information door-to-door, meeting with people on their front porches, and holding informal street gatherings with public health doctors and social workers to better communicate messages to the disaster victims and to promote the adoption of safe behaviors.

The findings demonstrate that in a crisis and emergency context, communication efforts must sometimes deviate from the planned strategies and come back to simple, direct, and “human” communication methods in order to adapt to the realities of the victims.

The paper starts with a description of a risk management model more suited to the current business environment. Key to the introduction of the model is the success of organizational communication and culture. Aspects of culture are explained using cultural theory. This is followed by a discussion of the critical role of communication, and the theory of the social amplification of risk is presented and analysed. From here the paper moves to the development of a framework explaining communications behaviour during crisis. The notions of structural distortion and communications degradation during crises are used to explain behavioural (cultural changes) distortion. Total risk management is presented as a notional solution to these problems.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how framing messages about earthquake risk affect judgements about legislation requiring the strengthening of earthquake-prone buildings.

Scenarios described the legislation with a general population sample (n=271). Two types of framing effects were examined in a 2 (valence frame: positive or negative or positive) by 2 (numerical format frame: frequency/number or percentage) experimental design.

Scenarios reporting the number of earthquake-prone buildings (negative frequency format) increased support for the earthquake-strengthening legislation more than the same message framed positively (frequency number of resilient building) or as a percentage. Demographic variables such as previous earthquake experience and gender interacted with the framing effects, and other variables also predicted support for the legislation were identified.

These results have direct implications for the use of framing effects messages in communications about earthquake risk and the wider domain.

This is the first study to show that the way the risk is framed affects citizens’ judgement of the value of earthquake legislation.

The purpose of this paper is to define immigrant knowledge workers (IKWs) as a vulnerable population in the urban emergency management context, and explored how to provide public safety services to IKWs. Due to nomadic features such as high mobility, spatio-temporality, and preferred autonomy, IKWs have difficulties in building required social ties with long-term residents in the urban emergency management system (UEMS). As such, IKWs are easily isolated and become vulnerable to disasters.

This study introduced possible types of network structure, compared each structure’s weaknesses and strengths in terms of risk communication, and suggested the strategic use of brokers for effective risk communication with application of network analysis perspective.

This study argued that the current space-based model causes tension in protecting NKWs and suggested the strategic use of brokers for the facilitated risk communication and for the protection of UKWs in more effective ways. The brokers in UEMS should pursue the core values of partnership, participation, and consultation in building mutual supportive channels within UEMS and the brokers should have sufficient cognitive capacity to avoid system fragmentation and collapse.

Due to the limitations as conceptual paper, sometimes it lacks empirical data to support the main arguments of this paper. To address this, the authors put that part as a suggestion for future studies.

With the strategic use of brokers, UEMS would be more resilient and accountable in providing public safety services to its citizens.

SARS was Singapore's worst experience of an infectious outbreak in its brief history as an independent nation. The key instruments in managing public fear and panic were transparency and trust. The highest levels of government were mobilised and every conceivable channel and medium utilised to educate the domestic populace and reassure the international community. Maintaining transparency and nurturing trust did not come easy. There was concern over public morale and resilience, the absence of an international level playing field and the difficulty in differentiating Singapore from countries which managed SARS badly. Achieving trust of the domestic populace was the more difficult task and the government and political leaders had to be seen doing and initiating a range of tangible actions and activities to reassure the public. Singapore also came in for much criticism from other countries for its ‘draconian’ measures to contain the disease through home quarantine orders and other stern measures on social discipline. Risk communications is an established methodology and lessons can be drawn from the experience of many countries in managing outbreaks touching on public health. While Singapore may be unique for its particular circumstances, its experience highlighted the critical importance of ensuring transparency and public trust in confronting the disease. This paper is based on a presentation to the plenary session at the first World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Consultation on Outbreak Communications held in Singapore from 21–23rd September, 2004.

The purpose of this paper is to outline how refugees’ transnational networks and online relationships facilitated through social media provide access to timely and trusted translated information in disaster settings.

The study is a digital ethnography of resettled refugees’ practices of transnational care and support through social media that took place over 12 months. It involved conducting 50 semi-structured interviews and collecting 472 online social media diaries with 15 participants. Data analysis was conducted through constructivist grounded theory.

Transnational networks are increasingly part of refugees’ everyday lives that illustrate how social media platforms can provide forms of transnational care and access to trusted translated communications during times of crisis. The paper discusses the possibilities and cautions of such support.

The small number of participants limits the ability to make generalised claims about refugees and transnational possibilities for reducing disaster risk. However, the reality that social media effectively provide a bridge between “here” and “there” signals the importance of incorporating these considerations as a form of transnational disaster risk reduction.

The project highlights from policy and practice standpoints, how transnational networks and social media can be used to improve disaster communications and translation. This focus is achieved through examining the usability, accessibility and affordability of digital communication technologies for forced migrants.

Few studies focus on refugees and disaster risk reduction. This is particularly the case as it relates to the roles of transnational networks, which have increasing everyday interactions in countries that provide refugee resettlement programmes.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model of financial communication to investigate the process of communicating risk signals between listed companies and their individual retail investors in initial public offerings (IPOs).

A survey study on individual IPO investors (n=212) in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was conducted to examine how risk estimates of individual retail investors were affected by three factors of financial communication, namely organizational trust, organizational reputation and investors’ trust in the media specialists. Structural equation modeling analysis was conducted.

Respondents’ perceived risks of below-target returns and perceived risks of losses of principals were significantly affected by their perceived market risks. Respondents relied significantly on organizational trust to estimate their amounts of target returns and mitigate their perceived risks of losses of principals. Organizational reputation, which could be possibly reinforced by respondents’ trust in the media specialists, could enhance organizational trust.

Corporate communications practitioners should pay attention to the effect of perceived market risk on risk estimate. As organizational trust is a significant precondition of risk taking in IPOs, practitioners should rethink the effectiveness of financial communication in which organizational trust, organizational reputation and investors’ trust in the media specialists are interrelated.

There is a lack of research in financial communication from the organization-stakeholders perspective. This paper conceptualizes financial communication and provides insights to both scholars and practitioners in corporate communications on how significant factors of financial communication affect risk estimate in the financial market.