Power and Place : A Case Study Approach to Rethinking Crisis Communication

Abstract

This dissertation examines a 2003 explosion at a pharmaceutical plant in Kinston, North Carolina against the framework of both crisis communication theory and critical discourse analysis theory. In the wake of the explosion, the corporation that owned the plant engaged in communication that was widely viewed as positive by stakeholders and successful in terms of best practices in crisis communication. The communication is analyzed utilizing Timothy Coombs' Situational Crisis Communication Theory. The communication is also analyzed utilizing critical discourse analysis theory developed by Fairclough and Van Dijk to determine if the power balance between the pharmaceutical plant and the community it resided in impacted the ability of the company to frame the discourse surrounding the event and the ability of stakeholders to question that framing. This dissertation makes an argument for crisis communication theory to include aspects of critical discourse analysis in order to assess and balance the power relationship between organizations and their stakeholders.