Читать книгу Communicating in Risk, Crisis, and High Stress Situations: Evidence-Based Strategies and Practice - Vincent T. Covello - Страница 24

The erosion of trust in traditional experts and authorities is driving the need for more effective risk, high concern, and crisis communication. Over the past 50 years, there has been a precipitous drop in trust in institutions overall and with risk management institutions specifically.

Perceptions that undermine trust include observations that technical experts and authorities are:

 paternalistic and insensitive or dismissive of concerns and fears about risks as irrational;

 unwilling to listen, express empathy, or acknowledge the emotions people feel when facing risks;

 unwilling to be fully transparent;

 unwilling to share complete and timely information about what they know about a risk;

 unaware they are using bureaucratic or technical language and jargon that people in the public do not understand;

 more interested in protecting their positions of power than in protecting people from harm or adverse impacts;

 often inconsistent in their statements about risks;

 inconsistent in their recommendations regarding preventive and protective actions; and

 often unwilling to allow meaningful stakeholder participation and engagement in the decision‐making process.

In this distrusting environment, advantages accrue to those with effective risk and crisis communication skills.