Communicating crisis during catastrophes

The case of Pedrógão Grande in Portugal

Abstract

This research explores the role of crisis communication during catastrophic events, taking into account the situation of the Pedrógão Grande wildfire. Its impact and, above all, the high number of fatalities held media attention for a while, thus conducting the organizations involved in a crisis that affected their image and credibility. In this sense, it was intended to analyze how the crisis communication in Pedrógão Grande corresponded to the expectations of the different publics. It was examined how the various institutions were able to manage the communication processes during the Pedrógão Grande wildfire. In addition, it was sought to know the perception of journalists who covered the event regarding the access to information about the case. At the same time, the public perception of the actions taken by the authorities in the area of communication was investigated. In order to achieve these objectives, a methodological triangulation was used, combining quantitative and qualitative methods (questionnaire survey, focused interviews and documentary research). The results suggest that entities, especially at the national level, are not available to talk about the issue of communication. The analysis of the Pedrógão Grande fire case revealed an absence of crisis communication plans, lack of strategy and lack of preparation, which shows a great mismatch between theory and practice in this area. When a disaster occurs, the relief operations commander and / or public relations officer should be familiar with the principles of crisis communication and the dissemination of operational information by the political authorities should have been avoied.