Browsing by Author "Gebeyehu, Minale"

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    Crisis Communication: A case study of the Integrated Master Plan Crisis in Oromia regional state
    (Addis Ababa University, 2018-06) Gebeyehu, Minale; Gebru, Amanuel (PhD)
    Crisis communication is an important part of public relations that could have either constructive or risky consequences based upon the action that an organization acts in response. This study aimed to find out the crisis communication management of the Oromia state government. Theories of crisis management and crisis communication were employed to identify models of best practices for crisis management and to apply these models to analyze the effectiveness of government’s response to the crisis due to the new integrated master plan, a master plan for Addis Ababa city and towns on the outskirts of the city. A content analysis of 58 articles from five newspapers; Reporter, Capital, Addis Zemen, Fortune, and Barissa, was conducted to examine how government responded to the crisis of integrated master plan. Results revealed that government’s response incorporated both best practices of crisis communication, as well as crisis responses that could be categorized as unethical. Such unethical responses included evasion of responsibility, attack of the accuser, minimization, and denial, while effective crisis communication tactics consisted of updating the public in a clear and concise manner, acknowledgment of mistake, and expressing sympathy and concern. In-depth interview were also conducted with eight participants from public relation practitioners to examine the communication strategies employed in the different phases of the crisis, the effectiveness of crisis communication strategy, media usage, influence of organizational culture in crisis communication, and stakeholder’s consideration. Results revealed that different media were employed during the crisis period, organizational culture has influenced crisis management and communication, and the role of stakeholders was mostly considered from an organization’s perspective and stakeholders were seen purely as receivers of organizational messages