Finding Renewal in the Midst of Disaster: The Case of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2021

Publication Title

Public Relations Review

Volume

47

Issue

1

First page number:

1

Last page number:

12

Abstract

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. In 2010, the United States experienced the worst environmental disaster in its history. An explosion on a BP oilrig located in the Gulf of Mexico triggered the crisis. As a result, the United States coast guard and BP were charged with crisis communication in its response to the crisis. This essay provides an unprecedented examination and analysis of the communication experiences of public information officers who worked in the unified command center in Houma, Louisiana during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response. The authors use the discourse of renewal theory to understand the communication practices and choices of the public information officers. Then, using the renewal framework, the authors present three implications for improving crisis communication research and practice.

Keywords

Crisis; Deepwater horizon; Oil spill; Opportunity; Renewal

Disciplines

Emergency and Disaster Management

Language

English

UNLV article access

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