Speaking with One Voice: Risk Communication Lessons from the US Anthrax Attacks1

It is often said that in times of crises experts, officials, and organizations should speak with one voice. But this homily has not been subjected to either conceptual or empirical scrutiny. We begin those tasks in this paper. To pursue our analysis, we use statements from the popular and scholarly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of contingencies and crisis management Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 160 - 169
Main Authors Clarke, Lee, Chess, Caron, Holmes, Rachel, O'Neill, Karen M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2006
Subjects
Anthrax
Biological & chemical terrorism
Communication research
Management of crises
Public good
Publicity
Studies
United States > US
New Jersey
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Summary:It is often said that in times of crises experts, officials, and organizations should speak with one voice. But this homily has not been subjected to either conceptual or empirical scrutiny. We begin those tasks in this paper. To pursue our analysis, we use statements from the popular and scholarly presses; we also use our interviews with local officials in New Jersey, USA, who had to respond to the anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001. We outline some of the meanings of the admonition to “speak with one voice” and discuss the rhetorical significance of the advice. Our argument is that it may be wise to speak with one voice, but this can not be taken for granted. Difference audiences may well need different messages or different kinds of messages. Speaking with multiple voices is often the most effective way to advance meaningful communication.
ISSN:0966-0879
1468-5973
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-5973.2006.00491.x