Traditional and social media in modern crisis communications

Crisis has been an entrenched aspect of the Public Relations profession for long. Due to their sheer destructiveness, whenever crises break out, crisis communicators are sent into struggles for containment and resolution. Over recent years, social media’s ascension has created new implications for crisis communicators. It has the double-edged capacities to both aid and hinder efforts to contain crises, necessitating understanding and recognition of its role in modern crisis communications. ❧ At the same time, traditional media has also seen evolutions entering the digital age, notably adopting many functions of social media by actively integrating. As a direct result, modern crisis communicators often employ both types of media in their crisis strategies, for attaining different communication goals. ❧ This paper argues that both traditional and social media, after mutually affecting each other’s development in the digital age, when it comes to crises, play similar roles that to consciously employ one over the other is counterintuitive in attaining the desired communication goals. It contextualizes the discussion by first providing an overview of both traditional and social media’s development in modern history, before diving into the discourse of traditional and social media’s roles in modern crisis communications. Finally, the paper provides some recommendations on practices surrounding social media based on the points raised in the discussion.