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
Repository Citation
Ulmer, R.,
Pyle, A.
(2021).
Finding Renewal in the Midst of Disaster: The Case of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
Public Relations Review, 47(1),
1-12.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2020.102001