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Traditional and social media in modern crisis communications

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Traditional and social media in modern crisis communications

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Content 1

Traditional and Social Media in Modern Crisis Communications
by Evan Liu
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS
AUGUST 2018

Copyright 2018

2

Acknowledgements

This thesis would not have been completed without the generous and insightful support
of my thesis committee members: Jennifer Floto, Brenda Lynch and Burghardt Tenderich.
My sincere thanks go out to these brilliant minds for lending me their professional
guidance. I thank Professor Floto for her encouragement and introducing me to this
fascinating topic. Professor Lynch provided wonderful industrial expertise that allowed
me to see through multiple perspectives, many of which were vital in delivering this
paper into its final form. Professor Tenderich has been a wonderful and responsible
committee chair, and I highly appreciate his patience and academic acumen. I thank him
for the much-needed advices in shaping this thesis into its deserving form. In addition, I
also thank Fred Cook and Cathy Calhoun for their supporting my professional
development while writing this paper.

I would also like to acknowledge my supportive family. Uncle Cliff and Aunt Amy, thank
you for taking care of me while I am studying in Los Angeles. Cousins Bryan and Kevin,
thank you for being so supportive behind my back. My father and mother, grandpa and
grandma, thank you for providing for me while I pursue this academic milestone. I bid
you all my sincerest gratitude.

Abstract

Crisis has been an entrenched aspect of the Public Relations profession for long. Due to
their sheer destructiveness, whenever crises break out, crisis communicators are sent into
struggles for containment and resolution. Over recent years, social media’s ascension has
created new implications for crisis communicators. It has the double-edged capacities to
both aid and hinder efforts to contain crises, necessitating understanding and recognition
of its role in modern crisis communications.

At the same time, traditional media has also seen evolutions entering the digital age,
notably adopting many functions of social media by actively integrating. As a direct
result, modern crisis communicators often employ both types of media in their crisis
strategies, for attaining different communication goals.

This paper argues that both traditional and social media, after mutually affecting each
other’s development in the digital age, when it comes to crises, play similar roles that to
consciously employ one over the other is counterintuitive in attaining the desired
communication goals. It contextualizes the discussion by first providing an overview of
both traditional and social media’s development in modern history, before diving into the
discourse of traditional and social media’s roles in modern crisis communications.
Finally, the paper provides some recommendations on practices surrounding social media
based on the points raised in the discussion.

3

Table of Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………...4
2. Research Summary…………………………………………………………………8
3. Background: Social Media and Traditional Media………………………………..10
4. PR Crises: Then and Now…………………………………………………………20
5. The Debate: Why Social Media Is Vital in Crisis Communications………………36
6. Alternative Viewpoints…………………………………………………………….53
7. Five Recommendations for Operating in the Social Media Era…………………...63
8. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………71
9. Works Cited…………………………………………………….………………….73

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1. Introduction
Looking back over the course of humanity’s 5000 years of recorded history, the term
“crisis” frequents the timeline. Crises come in many forms; whether it is a natural disaster
that leaves millions of people homeless or a coup d’état that changes the entire
geopolitical scene of a region, crises are sudden, great disruptors of the status quo. Many
organizations require a baseline of stability to function properly. Furthermore, crises are
also uncertain in nature, and in many cases unpredictable at the same time. When an
organization finds itself caught in one, it can be especially devastating if there is no prior
preparation. In these cases, considerable damage may occur.
While some crises can be foreseen, some are completely spontaneous. Crises can be
caused by human, machine and other non-human errors, often seemingly completely by
chance. Some products and services seem primed for crises, yet others surprise us. For
example, Hellmann’s, an American household mayonnaise brand, is not a name people
would normally expect to see on the receiving end of the LGBTQ+ community’s outrage.
However, in June 2017, when the company pushed out the “Celebration Strangewich,” a
rainbow-sprinkled cheese sandwich, on its social media platforms to celebrate LGBTQ+
Pride, both the questionable name and the less-than-appetizing sandwich that was meant
to represent the LGBTQ+ community were on the receiving end of angry backlash.
Hellmann’s had to remove the tweet associating the sandwich with Pride Month in the
end.
5

(Figure 1.1
1
: BuzzFeed’s correspondent Chris Geidner commenting on the Celebration Strangewich
incident – “a beautiful disaster”)
Incidents like the Celebration Strangewich exemplify the unpredictability of modern
PR crises. In addition, it is a crisis unique to the age of social media. Prior to the
advancement of informational technology in the ‘90s – namely, the popularization of the
internet – global communication was not yet as fast and as instantaneous. Many crises
were contained locally before they could propagate and become viral – or even

1
@chrisgeidner. “This since-Deleted Gif Tweet Is Such a Beautiful Disaster (h/t @Will_Kellogg, Who Declared
This ‘the Worst Pride Branding of 2017’): Pic.twitter.com/8s9thG2ry2.” Twitter, 20 Jun. 2017, 7:29 p.m.,
twitter.com/chrisgeidner/status/877005501200048128.
6

potentially reach a global level of awareness. However, the internet changed all of that.
Once anything gets posted, people from around the world can see it, and it stays on there
forever. As seen from Figure 1.1, even though the original tweet was deleted, Geidner
could re-upload a cached copy as evidence.
Now, technology advancements have given way to more effective instant
communications. This, in turn, permits crises to spread at unprecedented speeds. While
the instantaneous aspect of modern informational technology bestows upon users a wider
reception and audience, crises-inducing errors borrow from this increased speed,
becoming magnified in the process through propagation, and strain recovery efforts. The
moment the “Send” button in an email is clicked, the content is made available almost
instantly on another terminus. The content creator then has little control of the original
message, which was delivered at the speed it was intended, creating a ripe environment
for crises to emerge.
Other forms of technological advancements also create additional industries and
scenarios where crises can occur. Among these, social media is one of the most prominent
examples. From older services like Yahoo! Geocities and Myspace to newer ones like
Reddit and Facebook, social media has transformed the ways people interact with one
another across vast distances. Thoughts are shared in 280 characters with strangers
online, and networking no longer necessitate a face-to-face meeting.
These services, based upon the advent and popularization of the internet, are novel
7

compared to older, traditional media like newspaper and television. The birth and spread
of social media have, from a holistic perspective, impacted how crises are understood by
PR professionals. Social media is now increasingly playing a bigger role in resolving
crises than traditional media. While this is not to say that traditional and social media are
replacing each other, modern PR crises demand more attention to the latter, for reasons
the following segments will elucidate.
This paper will examine PR crises in the 21
st
century and how social media has
changed the ways they engender, propagate and get resolved. The writer will first
establish context through an overview of the development of traditional media, social
media and PR crises, followed by a discussion on the implications before diving into the
main topic: should social media be given more attention compared to traditional media in
face of a contemporary PR crises? This paper will elucidate some key points to be
considered on both sides of the debate, while candidly outlining the writer’s opinion and
stance.

8

2. Research Summary
In developing its argument, the paper will reference relevant scholarly literature and
professional opinions collected from interviews. The writer would like to note that while
conducting research, he discovered a very limited amount of existing scholarly literature
that could be employed into the framework of this paper, proving the need for such an
effort
The primary research component of this paper features interviews with experienced
industrial professionals including Ben Cook of Weber Shandwick New York and Charles
Shen of Nissan China, both with decades of experience within the PR industry. Mr. Cook
was selected to be interviewed for his role in Weber Shandwick NY’s Crisis Management
and Corporate Affairs Department. Mr. Shen was selected to be interviewed for his
experience in conducting crisis PR management while in China. They were asked the
same set of questions (attached as addendum) on the research topic of this paper. The
questions assess whether one agrees with the statement “it is now more important to look
at social media than traditional media when resolving a crisis” Both interviewees
responded strongly in agreement with this statement while differing in reasoning.
The secondary research component of this paper considers existing academic
literature. For the purpose of gaining a holistic understanding of social media and its role
in modern crisis communication, literature pertaining to this area of research is specially
considered. In addition, literature addressing traditional crisis communication strategies
9

will be employed to establish comparison. For a complete list of literature employed in
this paper, please see the works cited page.

10

3. Background: Social Media and Traditional Media
Despite social media being a novel invention that only appeared after the inception
and popularization of the internet, it does have historical parallels. During the French
Enlightenment period in the early 18
th
century, salons were frequented by women and
men to engage in discussions of ideas and interpersonal networking. Similarly, pubs in
major cities and piers around the world also served as a congregating point for people of
many occupations from different societal hierarchies, allowing the exchange of
information and discussion of current events. These institutions served the functions of
social media back in the day.
What is unique about social media is that the internet gave it the ability to extend
beyond physical confines. Online chatrooms, a close modern-day parallel to Parisian
salons, can instantly bring people from Asia, Europe and South America together without
ever having to purchase a plane ticket. The aspect of instant, on-demand communication
across vast distances has no historical parallel aside from those observed only from
mythological accounts, such as the celestial servants Shunfenger and Qianliyan in
Chinese folklore. Moving forward in the 21
st
century, the world is growing to become
more technologically advanced, further building upon both highly demanded aspects of
instant and high-speed communication. This is seen in an increasingly growing selection
of social media platforms, performing various in-demand functions – all focusing on
granting their users real-time updates from their servers measured in milliseconds.
11

With brands from the profile-based Facebook to the media-based Instagram, the
social media industry in the 21
st
century sees highly varied services. Nonetheless, they
largely fit under the same framework. As described by Jonathan A. Obar and Steven S.
Wildman
2
, internet-based social media have the following characteristics:
[1. Social media are interactive, Web 2.0-based applications]
Social media is defined by interactivity, and how users interact with one another sets
apart social media brands. Instagram, for instance, allows users to share photos and video
clips. Twitter, on the other hand, is relatively more text-based and can support more types
of media, such as animated GIFs and hyperlinked YouTube videos. Social media
companies differentiate from and compete with one another using these traits and
specialized services.
[2. Social media are reliant upon user-generated content]
Regardless of its functions and traits, a social media platform relies upon user-
generated content to attract and retain users. This shared similarity with other services
that also fit under the Web 2.0 framework. Social media users can interact with each other
by engaging on the platform. The methods of interaction can be anything from the
clicking of a “Favorite” button on Twitter to leaving a comment underneath a photo on
Facebook. Nonetheless, all interactions can essentially be seen as user-generated
contents. It is what the users themselves post that make social media a unique and highly

2
Obar, Jonathan A., and Steven S. Wildman. “Social Media Definition and the Governance Challenge - An
Introduction to the Special Issue.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015, pp. 745–750., doi:10.2139/ssrn.2663153.
12

sought after experience.
[3. Users create accounts and construct profiles through which they post contents on
social media]
Social media profiles make up the entirety of a user’s online identity, and are the
basis of a user’s interactions with others in a virtual and often anonymous world. These
profiles are not limited to represent just individuals, but also official and unofficial
organizations, companies and even governmental and international institutions. Based on
the nature of these profiles, the contents they post can also differ, carrying different
weights. Some social media would take further measures to differentiate official
accounts, such as assigning these accounts with a verified logo in the cases of Twitter and
Weibo. Accounts thus generate content and interact differently by nature online.
[4. Users can socialize with other accounts on the social media platform]
Finally, social media users engage with each other online. The types of interaction, as
aforementioned, can differ greatly based on the social media in question. Nonetheless, all
social media have some built-in functions to facilitate interactions between users, as these
interactions can also be viewed as user-generated content for attracting and retaining
users. Snapchat, for instance, revolves around users sending pictures to their contacts,
which the content-generation process itself is also user interaction. Facebook, on the
other hand, continuously improves its user interface to facilitate conversations in both on-
site direct messaging and comments underneath posts.
13

The origin of modern social media as we understand it now can be traced back to the
prototype of the online Bulletin Board System (BBS). Community Memories, a system
launched in 1973 out of Berkeley, California, was one of the first instances of online
interactions facilitated by digital means. While it is antiquated by today’s standards,
Community Memories was a milestone in the development of informational technology
and the overall advent of social media. Ever since, the world has seen many iterations of
social media across a spectrum of different services.
The period leading up to the early 2000’s was marked by online forums, such as
PHP-based BBS and other community sites like Yahoo! Geocities and MSN Groups. At
the turn of the century, the internet was not yet as prevalent worldwide, and many online
services were just beginning to become recognized. During this period, the use of instant
messaging services (IM) was the prevalent theme among Internet users. MSN Messenger
(later to be acquired by Microsoft and become Windows Live Messenger), AIM and QQ
were rapidly growing in their users, as the website platform-based social media was yet
non-existent. Another popular form of social media was online BBS. These electronic
forums are homes to small topic communities, and served as an anonymous social media
prior to the entrance of major platform social media.
The mid- to late-2000’s saw the ascension of Myspace and Facebook. Unlike
examples in the previous paragraph, Myspace and Facebook did not follow the
anonymous social networking concept, and instead actively encouraged users to make
14

real profiles under their own name. Meanwhile, microblogging social media sites also
surfaced. Twitter and its Chinese counterpart Weibo are two among the many, attracting
users who prefer their microblogging styles and anonymity. The rise of these sites also
led to the decline of instant messenger, as more users began to migrate towards these new
services that already housed on-site IMs and other novel functions.

(Figure 3.1
3
: During mid-late 2000s, IMs have shown an overall declining trend)
Early 2010 to present day has welcomed the entrance of more social media
platforms, especially notable ones that arose due to the prevalence of new technology. An

3
Yarow, Jay. “CHART OF THE DAY: The Death Of AOL Instant Messenger.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 31
Aug. 2010, www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-instant-messenger-services-2010-8.
15

example is Snapchat, the birth of which was very reliant upon the widespread adoption
and popularization of smartphones and wireless network technology. Older social media
remained around, but, in order to compete with newer ones, they went through drastic
transformations in both quality and breadth of functions and services. Those that were
unsuccessful in keeping up with time, such as Myspace, became irrelevant, dwindling to
nothing but a memory of the 2000s decade. However, there are also strong-standing ones
that remained; Facebook and YouTube reigned at the very top of social media active
users’ rankings in 2017. Both sites have seen night-and-day transformations compared to
10 years ago, which has contributed to their ongoing success.
16

(Figure 3.2: Most famous social network sites worldwide as of September 2017, ranked by number of
active users (in millions), data from Statista)
Currently, social media usage around the world maintains an upward growth rate
parallel to the propagation of digital literacy. By 2021, the number of social media users
around the world is expected to reach 3.02 billion (Statista)
4
. This expanding user base
also means that social media will grow to acquire more reach, and therefore more

4
Statista. “Number of Internet Users Worldwide 2005-2017.” Statista, July 2017,
www.statista.com/statistics/273018/number-of-internet-users-worldwide/.
17

influence, compared to traditional media. While this is not to say that social media will
eventually take over and completely replace traditional media in spreading information,
more people are turning to social media for learning news. According to a study done by
the Pew Research Center
5
in 2017, 67 percent of American adults obtain news from
social media sources, up from 62 percent in 2016, and 20 percent get news from social
media “often,” compared to 18 percent in 2016. Put differently, its implication for a PR
practitioner is that if there are more vehicles traveling down one interstate highway than
another, then purchasing a billboard off the busier one is more reasonable. Overall, social
media growth has remained healthy, warranting consideration for the PR professionals.
Traditional media, on the other hand, has a much longer history. For centuries prior
to social media’s inception, people have been spreading news via hand-written letters and
journals. Like social media, traditional media also benefited greatly from technological
advancements – most notably, from the invention of the printing press, which greatly
lowered production difficulty and costs, and thereby dramatically increasing circulation
and reach of the printed word. In the 20
th
century, traditional media moved onto
television, and televised news soon became another important source of information
besides the newspaper.
Over the years, traditional media has been steadily expanding to the realms of new
media, borrowing from the communication conveniences brought along by the internet.

5
Mitchell, Amy, et al. “1. Pathways to News.” Pew Research Center's Journalism Project, 7 July 2016,
www.journalism.org/2016/07/07/pathways-to-news/.
18

This movement has brought traditional media’s presence into the online world, which
means – combined with their offline presence – more market share and revenue. Pew
Research Center’s data
6
cited that in 2016, 40 percent of Americans were receiving their
news online.
Moving online also gave traditional media access to previously unavailable tools,
such as email newsletters, electronic subscriptions, social media tools and many more.
These tools are unique to the internet age, creating conveniences for both the media and
the consumers. Most importantly, these tools gave traditional media more reach; what
could once only be distributed and circulated offline now has the ability to transcend
range and distance, delivering breaking news to the consumers in minutes.
Another noteworthy technological advancement that has given traditional media
more reach in the modern day is in the wireless mobile sector. The development of
wireless LTE networks, accompanied by the increasing prevalence of Wireless Fidelity
(Wi-Fi) services around the world, allows for more accessible and instantaneous services.
Even though televised programs made instant transmission of information possible, no
one was going to walk around with a mini television in their pockets. The birth of the
new age wireless network bridged this informational gap as one can now have breaking
news pushed directly to their phones while driving down an inland highway, where the
closest television could be tens of miles away.

6
Mitchell, Amy, et al. “1. Pathways to News.” Pew Research Center's Journalism Project, 7 July 2016,
www.journalism.org/2016/07/07/pathways-to-news/.
19

A big takeaway is that despite bearing the tag, “traditional” media is by no means
bound by old traditions. The world has seen, over the decades, traditional media actively
keeping up with the times and technology. One method employed by traditional media in
achieving this was to grow increasingly inter-connected with social media. Both
traditional media and social media are looking to each other, searching for potential
sources from which to generate content. The main difference lies in who is doing the
content-generation. For traditional media, it is the established institutions and educated
media professionals. However, for social media, the new services allow anyone to have a
voice. YouTube makes every average user who has a basic understanding of making
videos into a producer, giving birth to grassroots content creators like Lilly Singh,
Anthony Padilla and Felix Kjellberg. Traditional media still largely remains under the
influence and control of the established names like Rupert Murdoch, Michael Bloomberg
and Anne Cox Chambers. This differentiation sets apart who gets to have a voice in the
media ecosystem of today, and will play into the following discussion of social media
versus traditional media when facing PR crises.

20

4. PR Crises: Then and Now
It is important to first put into perspective what crises are. There are difficulties and
issues that all organizations and individuals will come across on a daily basis, but not all
of them will constitute a “crisis.” For all discussion within this paper, the writer will
employ Fearn-Banks’ definition
7
of crisis, which is “a major occurrence with potentially
negative outcome affecting the organization, company, or industry, as well as its publics,
products, services, or good name.” (Fearn-Banks, p. 1)
To further elaborate upon the Fearn-Banks definition, there are three key aspects to
look at when assessing if an incident deserves to be labeled “crisis.” Firstly, the incident
must be “a major occurrence.” This means that the incident must carry more weight than
what would be expected during a regular operational day for the organization, and the
consequence has serious implications. In other words, while a sudden, unexpected fire
burning down the restaurant should be considered a crisis, the restaurant receiving a
negative review on Yelp should not. The former case has serious and major implications
for the restaurant, while the latter is just an unsatisfied customer on a Tuesday afternoon.
For PR practitioners, identifying the degree of impact of an incident is vital to ultimately
laying down the response plan. It is not good to overreact or underreact. A crisis warrants
an adequate response.
Secondly, a “potentially negative outcome” must be discernible or, at the very least,

7
Fearn-Banks, Kathleen. Crisis Communications: a Casebook Approach. Routledge, 2016.
21

come with a large degree of risk as the result of the incident. A crisis has an urgency to be
addressed because it has the potential – possibly already in the process – to do harm. A
troublesome incident may carry negative implications, but may not necessarily translate
into negative consequences. Once again, a negative review from a customer on Yelp is
unlikely to impact the restaurant’s overall sales and performance. The outcome, in this
case, is less “potentially negative” and more “neutral.” Therefore, when assessing an
incident’s candidacy of being considered a “crisis,” its ability to translate implications
into consequences, thereby affecting the involved party in the bigger picture, has to be
taken into account.
Thirdly, a crisis affects the “organization, company, or industry, as well as its publics,
products, services, or good name.” When identifying a crisis, identifying exactly who or
what is also important. Just because something ‘bad’ happens does not necessarily mean
that it qualifies as a crisis. When the Blackcomb mountain, a popular tourist destination
in Whistler, Canada
8
, received an annual total snowfall of just 672 cm in the 2014-15 ski
season, it marked a historical low since the turn of the century, coming in 463 cm below
annual average. The low snowfall due to unfavorable weather patterns certainly posed a
negative effect upon business and had major implications for local snow-related
businesses. However, Whistler’s Board of Tourism did not treat this as a crisis, and there
was no major backlash due to its lack of response. The incident, as it pertained to

8
Whistler Platinum. “Whistler Blackcomb Mountain Statistics.” Whistler Platinum, 24 June 2018,
whistlerplatinum.com/about-whistler/mountain-statistics.
22

Whistler, was not one that necessitated a crisis response.
Crisis communications, tracing back to the era prior to the popularization of the
internet and when print media was at the center of communications, relied upon the use
of formal PR statements. Because informational technology was not yet as advanced,
there were considerably more instances of informational asymmetry and fewer methods
of communication compared to today. The lack of media diversity and the access to
media created an environment where consumers’ ability to verify facts was hindered. As a
result, PR agencies and companies looking to deal with crises focused primarily on
newspapers and other print media, where they printed traditional, by-the-book statements.
One of the most globally well-known crises in modern history is the sinking of the
RMS Titanic. The incident, which took place on the night of April 14, 1912, claimed the
lives of more than 1,500 passengers, effectively becoming one of the most devastating
peacetime maritime disasters. The operating company that owned the vessel, White Star
Line, was in deep turmoil the following morning because stories could be sent back to
New York using telegrams on rescue ships. However, due to a lack of communicational
accuracy at the time because of insufficient communicational channels, the articles were
highly inconsistent, despite coming from established traditional media. The April 16
headlines for The New York Times, as seen from Figure 4.1 below, read:
TITANIC SINKS FOUR HOURS AFTER HITTING ICEBERG 866
RESCUED BY C A R P A THIA, PROBABLY 1250 PERISH ISMAY SAFE, MRS.
23

ASTOR MAYBE, NOTED NAMES MISSING

(Figure 4.1
9
: The frontpage of The New York Times on Apr. 16
th
, 1912, devoting the entire page to reporting

9
The New York Times on the Web. “Titanic Sinks Four Hours After Hitting Iceberg; 866 Rescued By Carpathia,
24

the incident)
Meanwhile, other newspapers such as The New York Sun and The Washington Post
reported drastically different stories that were much less accurate in retrospect. The New
York Sun claimed “All Saved from Titanic after Collision” whereas The Washington Post
ran a headline reading:
TIT A NIC’S 1470 PASSENGERS ARE NOW BEING TRANSFERRED IN
LIFEBOATS TO CUNARD LINE
Amidst the chaos that shrouded the initial 24 hours of the incident, there was a clear
lack of information – accurate or not. Due to the confused frontline reports and a lack of
verification methods, some papers were even led to report that the Titanic was being
towed into harbor. Reporters gathered at White Star Line’s office, the only place they
expected to hear the most up-to-date news. This gave White Star Line the ripe
opportunity to depict the story in their favor. The Washington Post, for one, likely
believed White Star Line, which led to the erroneous headline. 1912 did not see the
prevalence of smart phones or the resources available to international media a century
later, which would have, at the very least, removed White Star Line from being the only
source of firsthand news.
The Titanic’s example illustrates the confines and restraints faced by traditional
media more than 100 years ago. The lackluster speed and accuracy at which information

Probably 1,250 Perish; Ismay Safe, Mrs. Astor Maybe, Noted Names Missing.” The New York Times, The New
York Times, 9 Apr. 2018, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0415.html.
25

surrounding the incident spread allowed for the crisis-ridden organization to step in and
establish authority on discussion. In the end, the crisis PR efforts led to a statement from
the managing director of the White Star Line, J. Bruce Ismay::
In the presence and under the shadow of a catastrophe so overwhelming my feelings
are too deep for expression in words. I can only say that the White Star Line, its offices
and employees will do everything humanly possible to alleviate the suffering and sorrow
of the survivors and of the relatives and friends of those who perished.
The Titanic was the last word in shipbuilding. Every regulation prescribed by the
British Board of Trade had been strictly complied with, the mater, officers, and the crew
were the most experienced and skillful in the British services.
I am informed that a committee of the United States had been appointed to
investigate the circumstances of the accident. I heartily welcome the most complete and
exhaustive inquiry, and any aid that I or my associates or our builders or navigators can
render is at the service of the public and the governments of both the United States and
Great Britain. Under the circumstances I must respectfully defer making any further
statement at this time.
Ismay’s statement exemplified the crisis communication efforts of companies during
the time. White Star Line only engaged two major sets of audiences: the families of the
affected and the print media. Because there were no other major media channels available
at the time, White Star Line did not need to be concerned with other audiences, either. It
26

would take the rest of the United States outside of New York, along with the rest of the
world, much longer to learn about the incident. Australia, for example
10
, ran a story about
the Titanic on April 17, where the Sydney Morning Herald “relegated the main report to
the inside pages, along with stories about a Canadian woman being held up by Mexican
bandits; the home rule debate in Ireland; and the completion of a new rail line between
Sydney and Newcastle.” Clearly, the Australian journalists did not perceive the sinking as
being too major an issue at the time because they, like their readers, did not hear the
discussions in New York firsthand. Had they realized the weight of the story and decided
to return to follow up later, there would have been much later than the original incident.
Clearly, Ismay set the standard that has been employed by ill-advised, crisis-stricken
leaders ever since: say only what you want to reveal and hope that the story goes away.
The Titanic can be juxtaposed with a similar incident in the 21
st
century. The
transportation industry saw the disappearance of Malaysia Airline’s MH370, which
shocked the countries of Malaysia and China while grabbing the attention of the rest of
the world. 239 lives onboard vanished along with the plane on March 8, 2014, never to be
found again. Malaysia Airlines, just like White Star Line, was overwhelmed almost
instantly by reporters at its Kuala Lumpur office. Also present were the families of the
missing passengers, demanding an explanation and constant updates on the search and
rescue effort. Some family members and on-site reporters opened social media accounts

10
ABC News. “How News of the Titanic Disaster Broke.” ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 12
Apr. 2012, www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-13/how-news-of-the-titanic-disaster-broke/3934198.
27

on Weibo and Twitter, where they broadcasted to the rest of the world. Because these
accounts were external media, they did not share the same agenda as Malaysian Airlines’.
As a result, their social media activities generated a new set of audiences that Malaysian
Airlines had to address, without being able to fully control the conversation.
These new audiences were nonexistent back in the times of the Titanic, and are
unique to the 21
st
century, where the world is more interconnected than ever thanks to the
internet. The people that comprise this audience group are not bounded by physical
distances, and have instant on-demand access to information, which was also unseen a
century ago.
28

(Figure 4.2
11
: A post made by the Weibo account “MH370 Family Platform” on Mar. 26, 2014: “The
command center is tightly-shut. The office area is completely empty. The families of the passengers are left

11
@马航 MH370 家属平台. “紧锁的指挥部，空荡的办公区，无助的乘客家属。自从 3 月 24 日晚发表完不负
责任的坠毁声明后，马航的所有工作人员就神秘失踪了！每日班车再不安排，返京家属的住宿再不解决，24
小时的紧急联系电话再不回应。马航，是不是你们也都失联了！！！@马来西亚航空别再欺骗全世界了，你们
实在太无耻！！！” Sina Weibo. 26 Mar. 2014, 11:24 a.m.,
https://weibo.com/5080250272/ACK09kvsP?from=page_1006065080250272_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime
29

helpless. After their irresponsible statement on Mar. 24
th
, all Malaysian Airlines’ staff disappeared
mysteriously! The daily shuttles stopped coming, and families from Beijing are left without a place to stay.
The 24-hours hotline is no longer responding. @MalaysianAirlines, have you also vanished into thin air?
Quit lying to the world. You are way too shameless!!!” The post has gained 86,728 reposts, 23,997
comments and 17,340 likes since posting.)
Most importantly, the social media audience group changed the flow of conversation.
Traditional PR crises like the Titanic were handled mostly through a professional channel
in a by-the-book format. Due to the limitation of media and technology, the statements
were a one-way flow of information. The audience had no way of voicing feedback on a
level that could be considered a direct response. However, contemporary social media
exist as platforms where the audience group’s feedback can become broadcasted, just as
much as the official statements. This allows for the ability to shape a crisis’ narrative
from more than just one side, and can create implications for how a crisis develops and
gets resolved. Before, White Star Line had more access to media than the affected
families, and could actively control the narrative. Now, this advantage during a crisis has
been neutralized, as seen when social media granted MH370’s victims’ families just as
much air time and as big an audience.
Contemporary PR crises are more volatile, varied and far-reaching due to the
advancement in communication technologies, globalization and overall literacy of the
general populace. Thanks to the accessibility and real-time nature of social media,
30

anything that happens anywhere can become known by everyone everywhere at the same
time, and at the earliest opportunity. PR professionals therefore must exercise extra
caution when dealing with social media, because the room for error is almost nonexistent.
As demonstrated in the case of Hellmann’s Strangewich, just about anything can turn into
a PR crisis in a snap of our fingers, when social media’s communicative prowess turns
disruptive.
Among the contemporary PR crises, those that originate on social media are
especially harmful, and unparalleled to anything that has come before in the traditional
era. In fact, due to how much social media has changed – or is in the process of changing
– the PR landscape, saying that a new era of PR crises started with the popularization of
Web 2.0 social media is not too farfetched. Because these crises now borrow from the
traits of advanced communication technologies, they demand a higher standard of
response from PR practitioners. Whether it is speed, accuracy or method, crises now must
be handled drastically differently compared to the old days.
In the 21
st
century, modern social media’s inception brought along with it new
grounds upon which crises can grow, while those that originate offline can move online
and propagate just as easily. In the late afternoon of April 9, 2017, an incident involving a
United Airlines passenger, Dr. David Dao, being forcibly removed from the plane prior to
departure entered the field of view of many on the Internet. When United Airlines wanted
to make room for four of its staff members on Flight 3411, departing from Chicago,
31

Illinois for Louisville, Kentucky, Dr. Dao, who was chosen for this purpose, refused to be
removed and was physically injured by Chicago Department of Aviation officers, whose
dragging his unresponsive body down the aisle was recorded by a smartphone and
uploaded onto social media. Instantly, the video began trending on major sites like
Twitter and Facebook, soon reaching overseas to the Chinese Weibo as well.
With only imagination, one can already picture in one’s mind the speed at which the
news had gone viral. One copy of the video that was uploaded was shared 87,000 times
and viewed 6.8 million times in just a day, according to a Chicago Tribune article
12
.
Because of Dr. Dao’s Chinese and Vietnamese ethnic background, social media overseas
in Asia began fervently discussing the incident almost instantly as well. Over 480 million
users
13
on Weibo participated in the discussion, and calls to boycott United Airlines
echoed. All of these things happened within 48 to 72 hours after the incident took place.
In the days before the internet, taking the Titanic as an example, it was possible to
get the news out to the world via traditional media by using telegrams and newspapers.
However, what the Flight 3411 incident demonstrated was social media’s ability to not
only virally spread news, but also generate massive amounts of discussion, and all in an
extremely short time frame.
In addition, the discussions also differ across traditional and social media. Aside

12
Marotti, Ally, and Lauren Zumbach. “Video Shows United Airlines' Passenger Dragged off Plane.” Los Angeles
Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2017, www.latimes.com/business/ct-united-drags-passenger-0411-biz-
20170410-story.html.
13
Wise, Alana. “United Airlines Faces Mounting Pressure over Hospitalized Passenger.” Reuters, Thomson
Reuters, 12 Apr. 2017, www.reuters.com/article/us-ual-passenger-shares-idUSKBN17D1L7.
32

from being largely one-way communications, traditional media are also more moderated
by comparison. The established media institutions have the means to direct narratives and
drive discussions. However, for social media, the discussions are unmoderated and can
grow in all directions. Especially in crisis cases, unmoderated public discussions
resemble wildfires in their lack of control and volatility, because they do not have to
abide by any institution’s editorial agenda or follow a discourse outlined by traditional
media. The speed at which United Airlines saw backlash on social media exemplified
exactly this.

(Figure 4.3
14
: (Left) Comedian Joe Wong posts on Weibo and comments on Flight 3411 Incident: “[Dr. Dao
said] ‘I was selected in part because I am a Chinese’ – I want to praise him for this comment. Many
Chinese feel like they are discriminated but just refuse to speak up, allowing western media to treat the

14
Griffiths, James, and Serenitie Wang. “Man Filmed Being Dragged off United Flight Causes Outrage in China.”
CNN, Cable News Network, 10 Apr. 2018, www.cnn.com/2017/04/11/asia/united-passenger-dragged-off-
china-reaction/.
33

discrimination of Asians lightly.” (Right) Various top comments underneath Wong’s Weibo: “Let me tell a
joke, everyone: ‘The United States has the best human rights in the world!’” – 7356 likes, “Oh god! It’s
really a Chinese! This is pure discrimination. I am outraged!” – 5247 likes, “Wow, (Dr. Dao) is a doctor
but also an elderly, how can he even put up a struggle? The Americans are so blatantly lying, and to go
violent on an elderly is just inhuman!” – 4865 likes. Social media sites like Weibo have shown that an
incident taking place in the United States has no trouble generating discussion in China, especially when
the incident involves possible racial discrimination towards Chinese.)
Another example of how social media’s unmoderated discussion transformed into a
PR crisis can be seen from Pepsi’s Live for Now commercial, released on April 4, 2017. It
featured model and reality television star Kendall Jenner resolving current political
tensions, borrowing from the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, with a can of Pepsi
Cola. Within hours of its posting, the online community reacted overwhelmingly
negatively towards the advertisement, citing its insensitive bandwagon-ing on the BLM
movement and interpretation of the current socio-political environment within the United
States. This was where the unmoderated social media discussion took over and began
generating a PR crisis for Pepsi, who, for the first day of the video’s release, stood by and
defended the video, saying that it was “a global ad that reflects people from different
walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony.”
15
However, social media users
clearly disagreed with this interpretation, as the original video received 1.6 million views

15
Gonzalez, Sandra. “Kendall Jenner's Pepsi Ad Sparks Backlash.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, 5 Apr.
2017, money.cnn.com/2017/04/04/media/kendall-jenner-pepsi-ad/index.html.
34

within 48 hours of posting on YouTube, and the upvote-downvote ratio was a glaring
1:5
16
, meaning that for every positive feedback the video received, five negative
feedbacks have also been received. It was not long until Pepsi gave in to public pressure
and took down the advertisement, following an apologetic statement to Kendall Jenner
and the public.
The explosive backlash Pepsi experienced with Live for Now also illustrated the ease
of obtaining a voice on social media versus traditional media, which should be noted by
PR practitioners, due to the implications this has on communications in the 21
st
century.
Once again, returning to the example of the Titanic, which took place in an era where
only traditional media was present and the established media institutions got to decide
what became a story, the accessibility to these media was highly limited for the public.
Yet, this remains true even today. Despite advancement in technology, the voices of
televised and print media, for instance, still preclude the average citizen. On the flipside,
social media sites have efficiently removed this barrier by allowing free, on-demand
access from everywhere and to everyone. An average Twitter account is no less
accessible than a verified celebrity Twitter account, and in this case for Pepsi, served as a
propagator of the crisis by building onto the unmoderated discussion. Every retweet,
share, comment and downvote served as a puff of wind onto the raging fire of the crisis,
eventually blazing to a point that Pepsi had to concede.

16
Watercutter, Angela. “Pepsi's New Kendall Jenner Ad Was So Bad It Actually United the Internet.” Wired,
Conde Nast, 5 Apr. 2017, www.wired.com/2017/04/pepsi-ad-internet-response/.
35

The outcome of the incident was quite a mess for Pepsi, denting the brand image it
had worked hard to maintain over the years. Furthermore, Kendall Jenner, the
spokesperson, also took a hit in her reputation, even though she was acting only by the
script Pepsi provided. This incident highlighted that celebrity endorsers and influencers,
while being advertisers, are also a part of a brand image, and are not bullet-proof by any
standard in face of a PR crisis.

36

5. The Debate: Why Social Media Is Vital in Crisis Communications
In 2018, at the time of this paper’s writing, the functional discrepancies between
traditional and social media are still present. However, as years progress, traditional
media institutions continue to keep up with the changing tides of technology, by actively
shaping a presence for themselves on social media and integrating social media functions.
Traditional media, borrowing Logan’s definition, account for Marshall McLuhan’s
“old media,” including “speech, writing, numbers, telephony, audio recordings, radio,
movies and television” (Logan, p. 8)
17
. Noteworthy sectors within this category that
pertain to this paper’s discussion are news (print in particular) and television. Since the
turn of the 20
th
century and the popularization of the internet, traditional media
institutions within these sectors have also moved online, establishing themselves
digitally. These media institutions that have ventured into cyberspace fall into the new
category of “digital media,” where social media institutions also reside. As a result,
traditional and social media have begun synergistically merging.
It is therefore not farfetched to say that all media have gone social in the 21
st
century.
Traditional media institutions borrow social media functions to disseminate their content.
The New York Times, for instance, maintains accounts on social media sites such as
Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube. Audiences who browse the Times’
digital content can share them with friends and contacts on these social media platforms,

17
“Understanding New Media: Extending Marshall McLuhan.” Understanding New Media: Extending Marshall
McLuhan, by Robert K. Logan, Peter Lang, 2016
37

thereby integrating into The New York Times’ digital media strategy. The Times is not
alone in this social media incorporation – virtually every traditional media institution is
now engaging on social media. The boundary between the two kinds of media has thus
been blurred. The following sections will discuss the strengths and advantages social
media enjoy in the 21
st
century, and how they translate into implications for PR
practitioners.
1. Social media’s higher level of reach and audience retention
However, this is not to say that traditional and social media have grown to become
the same. Aside from the discrepancies in their definitions, traditional and social media
carry differences in the roles they play in crisis communications. Mr. Ben Cook of Weber
Shandwick New York interprets this as the difference between an “amplifier” versus an
“initiator.” “Social media is the first mover in any crisis situation, or the ‘initiator,’ while
traditional media is the great ‘amplifier,’” explains Cook. “Today, I see it as social media
setting the agenda. You have people reacting to things on social media, and initiating
conversations. Certain things cross the threshold; traditional media picks it up and
amplifies it.”
This relationship (henceforth referred to as the Cook Model of Crisis) depicts how
traditional and social media, both operating in the 21
st
century, affect the growth and
propagation of a crisis. Traditional media now borrow from the power of social media –
which will be elaborated in the following sections – while performing its function as the
38

Fourth Estate. It is thus important to note what social media excels at in complementing
traditional media, and to place these strengths into the context of crisis communications.

(Figure 5.1: Social and traditional media interacting with crisis in the Cook Model of Crisis)
Noteworthy within the Cook Model is the threshold between social media and
traditional media. As of 2018, traditional media institutions have undergone extensive
digitization. From incorporating email newsletters to releasing smartphone applications
(or “apps”), these institutions have truly tapped into technology and made their content
accessible from as many angles as possible. For virtually every platform that is digitally
connected with social media, traditional media has also ventured upon them. The reason
of traditional media institutions so actively keeping up with technology is that very
threshold, comprised of social media users. When enough people begin discussing
something, that threshold is met, and traditional media institutions will understand the
39

need to pick it up. From Figure 3.2 we have seen social media’s popularity in 2017. The
numbers of users that social media services around the world boast is directly correlated
to traditional media’s rush to digitization.

(Figure 5.2
18
: Chart detailing percentage of time spent on different app categories by American consumers
as of December 2016)
Through digitization, traditional media has attained the instantaneous aspect of social
media, but social media still holds on to something traditional media struggles with.
Today, when breaking news takes place, smartphone apps can relay the story to their
users via notifications almost instantly. However, outside of these special instances, social

18
Perez, Sarah. “U.S. Consumers Now Spend 5 Hours per Day on Mobile Devices.” TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 3
Mar. 2017, techcrunch.com/2017/03/03/u-s-consumers-now-spend-5-hours-per-day-on-mobile-devices/.
40

media apps have seized Americans’ attention. Figure 5.2 breaks down the percentage of
time spent on mobile apps in the United States. We can see that the combined portions of
social media (Facebook, Snapchat, Messaging/Social and YouTube) make up 36 percent
of the total amount of time, while News and Weather only has three percent. The key here
is reach and retention: social media has the ability to reliably reach its users and
constantly bring them back to consume information on its platforms. In other words,
while traditional media has gone social in the 21
st
century, it remains traditional media.
Social media enjoy a greater popularity among specific users, and this is vital for PR
practitioners who want to reach out to audiences on a regular basis, especially during a
prolonged crisis.
2. Social media’s ability to live-monitor crises for prevention and resolution
Another one of social media’s highly prized capabilities for PR practitioners is the
ability to live-monitor crises. By using built-in functions on social media sites and other
social media monitoring services like Brandwatch, Crimson Hexagon and Keyhole, crisis
communicators can very effectively and accurately gauge the developing situation.
Amidst the flurry of millions of social media posts, simply using the naked eye is often
not enough to navigate through the crisis. Social media’s live-monitoring functions are
thus like a compass, pointing a way for the crisis communicators.
Crises do not happen at a snap of the fingers. There is always a lead-up prior to the
outbreak of the storm, albeit lengths of these lead-ups may vary. Within Fearn-Banks’
41

Five Stages of Crisis model
19
, the first stage is Detection. Social media excels at detecting
a forming crisis. The warning signs to the inception of a crisis, or “prodromes” as coined
by Fearn-Banks, are easily discernible the moment a keyword or hashtag begins trending.
Having been warned by the algorithms of monitoring services, a keen PR practitioner
anticipating a crisis will have already launched into crisis activation mode, giving their
organization a much-needed head start in the response efforts.

(Figure 5.3
20
: An example of proactive crisis communication that averted a crisis for JCPenney)
Back in 2013, officials at J.C. Penney (hereafter JCPenney), an American department
store chain, took quick notice of a crisis brewing when an unfortunate advertisement
showing a tea kettle resembling Adolf Hitler made it on to social media and was reported

19
Fearn-Banks, Kathleen. Crisis Communications: a Casebook Approach. Routledge, 2016.
20
@Telegraph, “The kettle that looks like Hitler - trouble brewing for American retailer JCPenney
http://soa.li/il6S17h” Twitter, 28 May 2013, 10:09 a.m.,
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/339382884404187136
42

on by media outlets such as The Telegraph and Huffington Post. Usually in cases like
this, angry commenters would start replying to the original tweet and voicing discontent –
the first sign of a coming crisis that demands JCPenney’s caution. JCPenney’s
communications team was quick to jump on board and, one-by-one, replied to “hundreds
of tweets about the evil teapot with a standard, light-hearted message.”
21
Fortunately, this
effort paid off as JCPenney successfully averted any further backlash.
What JCPenney’s crisis response team demonstrated in this case was an effective
utilization of social media’s capability in crisis-prevention. When traditional media
institutions like The Telegraph and Huffington Post reported on the incident, the crisis has
already broken through the threshold in the Cook Model, well on its way to becoming
amplified by journalistic institutions. JCPenney, while monitoring related Twitter
activities, would have likely noticed the number of replies and mentions increasing,
signaling an anomalous trend, and thus launched into action. By replying to every tweet
that mentioned the incident, JCPenney was effectively ending the discussions before they
could propagate. At the same time, the one-on-one replies made the users feel a personal
connection and develop an affinity for the brand, effectively appeasing them.
JCPenney’s case also demonstrated the two-way communication framework of social
media. Prior to the information age, traditional media communicated messages primarily
through one-way channels. The audience could not effectively provide feedback.

21
Fisher, Stephanie. “3 Great Examples of Crisis Management on Social Media.” Spinweb, Spinweb, 2 Aug. 2013,
blog.spinweb.net/3-great-examples-of-crisis-management-on-social-media.
43

Traditional media, after connecting online and becoming integrated with social media, is
now benefiting from this ability to connect with its audiences, too. Journalists and
reporters can directly jump into conversations and reply to tweets. Pages on YouTube and
Facebook allow for the construction of a vocal and accessible following. During a crisis,
these constructed channels of communication can serve vital roles in sending out
information and receiving input. Moreover, the monitoring algorithms can correctly pick
up keywords and identify vital inputs amidst a flurry of millions of social media posts.
What would easily evade human eyes may not remain hidden from machines. The
amount of information accessible online can be overwhelming, but it is also exactly
because of this that social media is highly resourceful to PR practitioners. With the right
tools to aid, they can effectively combat crises in a capacity previously unattainable, as
demonstrated by JCPenney, who tracked down and replied to virtually every tweet
mentioning the unfortunate kettle.
3. Social media presents more flexibility in delivering messages
In the PR profession, delivering/distributing the message can be just as important as
the message itself. Social media’s value is especially evident when there is a need to
reach out to a particular audience base through a particular type of messaging.
“Celebrities and other public figures… [use social media] to bypass traditional media and
communicate directly with fans, customers and constituents.” (Fearn-Banks, p. 73)
22

22
Fearn-Banks, Kathleen. Crisis Communications: a Casebook Approach. Routledge, 2016.
44

Alternatively, in cases of crises, social media allows for instant communication that
circumvents traditional media that usually has to abide by a publishing and editorial
schedule. This is also a reason why traditional media has moved to incorporate social
media in its operations. Going digital means that traditional media are no longer limited
by the fixed schedules of their daily or weekly printed publications. Instead, traditional
media institutions can break news at any time of the day through their online outlets.
Especially in the cases of crises and potential crises – such as when a terrorist attack takes
place, a natural disaster claims lives or a foreign government publishes unexpected
statements – getting the news out as quickly as possible and to as many people as
possible becomes the highest priority. Social media’s diversified channels and real-time
nature can become a great asset.
45

(Figure 5.4
23
: The New York Times breaking news via its Twitter account)
Figure 5.4 above demonstrates an instance where traditional media incorporated
social media in its digital operations. Twitter, one of the most popular social media

23
@nytimes. “Breaking News: U.S. spies paid $100,000 to a shadowy Russian who was trying to sell material on
President Trump along with stolen cyberweapons” Twitter, 9 Feb. 2018, 07:13 p.m.,
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/962117240215818241
46

platforms, provides a unique content structure of short, character-limited “tweets” that
serve as the basis of information shared to millions of users. Other social media services
differentiate themselves by providing other unique content structures. YouTube, for
instance, is the largest video-sharing social media platform in the world. Its contents are
user-generated videos, in contrast with Twitter’s more text-based contents. This content
structure differentiation denotes that messages can be delivered differently and to
different audiences.
Logan Paul, a YouTube user who operates the account Logan Paul Vlogs, is a
millennial ‘vlogger’ with over 16 million subscribers to his channel. His style of youthful,
sometimes unrefined humor is the main selling point of his daily videos, where he
documents his various daily life events. In December 2017, Paul traveled to Japan with
his friends, where they ventured into the Aokigahara forest on Mount Fuji, a location
famous for being a destination to commit suicide, with the joking purpose of attempting
to find a dead body. As events unfolded, Paul found what he was looking for, and posted
the video footage he took while inside the forest. The result was a PR disaster for Paul, as
viewers found the video he edited and uploaded distasteful and disrespectful.
Paul’s response was to upload a video of him addressing the issue and making a
formal apology. Nonetheless, many found his apology to be insufficient. Paul was widely
criticized, from both his own fans and other prominent YouTubers such as Felix Kjellberg
47

(PewDiePie on YouTube)
24
. However, Paul’s decision to post an apology video is
certainly an appropriate way of addressing his audience, who follow his vlogs. The use of
apology videos is also frequently seen in the digital age. Combined with the properties
and strengths of social media, these multimedia contents can be of high strategic value
for PR practitioners.

(Figure 5.5
25
: Logan Paul appearing in his two-minute long apology video. Apologizing in person conveys
sincerity, and can appear more endearing than apologizing through simple plain text. The vlog format is
also easily accessible, and can be widely shared across different social media accounts.)

24
“LOGAN PAUL.” YouTube, uploaded by PewDiePie, 2 Jan. 2018,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFmSepfF48o
25
“So Sorry.” YouTube, uploaded by Logan Paul Vlogs, 2 Jan. 2018,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwZT7T-TXT0
48

Paul’s example highlights just one way of utilizing social media in a contemporary
crisis. Social media platforms’ multimedia content frameworks allow for the production
of messages in different formats, thus serving different purposes. The flexibility of
delivering the messages increases as well. Depending on the circumstances and nature of
the messages, other forms of social media content can also be employed. Podcasts,
livestreams and Reddit Ask-Me-Anything (AMAs) are all potent and highly differentiated
tools for delivering messages. It is then up to the PR practitioner to determine which type
of content and media best serves his or her purpose, and incorporate accordingly. There is
vast potential that has yet to be tapped.
4.Web 2.0 content creation allows for easy incorporation of talents
With the prevalence of smartphones and wireless networks, an increasing number of
people around the world are now becoming connected to social media
26
. Now anyone can
construct their own following and produce unique content on social media. As previously
discussed, this is social media’s Web 2.0 nature, where the average users are the driving
force behind the content creation.
Web 2.0 characteristics warrant a PR practitioner’s attention for a multitude of
reasons. Among the most pronounced – in this paper’s context – is that the ability of
average users to construct their own followings has given birth to a new line of major
actors in crises: Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). KOLs are newly ascribed roles that came

26
Statista. “Number of Social Media Users Worldwide 2010-2021.” Statista, July 2017,
www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/.
49

with the advent of social media. They are not the same as the KOLs in the pharmaceutical
industry. In this case, KOLs in marketing and communications are understood as people
who have an audience that look to them for the interpretation of trends, topics and
messages. In other words, KOLs tell people what to think, how to think and when to
think.
“In the social media era, we see the KOLs playing an increasingly active role,”
commented Mr. Charles Shen. With decades of experience practicing PR in a culturally
conservative and reserved country such as China, Shen has come to appreciate the ability
of KOLs to greatly influence people, especially in an environment where the freedom to
express opinions is highly suppressed. “In a time of crisis, KOLs can use social media to
draw public attention and drive consensus on one specific issue.” Shen noted this as
being a highly effective trait of the KOLs operating on Weibo and other Chinese social
media.
Weibo, China’s largest social media platform and Twitter-parallel, has a verification
system much like that of its Western peer. Those who are verified – celebrities, industrial
figures or even just someone with a decent follower count – are given a red or blue ‘V’ to
be attached to their names. These accounts receive higher exposure and are recommended
by Weibo to newly registered users. Once verified, KOLs, with their hundreds of
thousands and even millions of followers, are then sought after by companies and PR
agencies to promote their products and services to the social media users. This utilization
50

of the verified “Big V” accounts in conducting PR is just one of many ways to interact
with Chinese KOLs.
Here in the west, KOLs are ascending to the stage as well. Just like product
ambassadors, good KOLs add greatly to a brand’s image and often play vital roles during
crises due to them having an established relationship with the audience and consumers of
a brand. At the same time, unlike traditional product ambassadors, KOLs are born and
bred on social media, where they are recognized for being more than just a face or a name
– but also a line of social media content and its content producer. People who follow
KOLs do so for their content, and thus one can expect high levels of reception and
engagement.
What KOLs bring to crises is a new channel to effectively engage the target
audience. As Shen would recall, when a company is dragged into an unwanted spotlight
during a crisis, fake news and rumors will surface to further complicate and exacerbate an
already worsened situation. The key then is to dispel false information and “help the
company drive authoritative, correct messages to the audience,” affirmed Shen. “At the
same time, we want to make sure that this information can be correctly distributed and
interpreted on social media, thereby influencing the perception of the target audience.”
For this purpose, KOLs with high levels of exposure and followers are invaluable. Their
abilities to generate and lead discussions on social media will greatly aid the effort to
rectify false information and appease the crisis.
51

What is especially noteworthy about KOLs is that anyone in this information age can
become one. The advent of social media gave birth to many previously unseen
occupations – YouTube vloggers, Snapchat personalities and Twitch streamers, among
the many – and the individuals in these occupations all possess the Web 2.0 quality of
having built their own following. For a PR practitioner, this means that the breadth of
collaborations with KOLs and all social media content creators can be vast. Whether it is
for the purpose of putting out a fire during a crisis, or promoting a line of products or
services, someone operating on social media somewhere has likely already established a
connection with your target audience.
52

(Figure 5.6
27
: The military history account Binkov’s Battlegrounds on YouTube is an example of a content
creator on social media who has established their own following. In this case, the channel has over
207,000 subscribers for its military-themed content. The naval combat online game World of Warships has
reached out to the account for collaboration, tapping into its following for promoting contents, as seen
from the description section underneath the video.)

27
“USS Iowa vs IJN Yamato.” YouTube, uploaded by Binkov’s Battlegrounds, 23 Feb. 2018,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3C_gicuoPw
53

6. Alternative Viewpoints
Up to the current point in this paper, various positions surrounding social media’s
strengths in contemporary PR have been discussed. The writer, while agreeing that social
media is playing increasingly important roles that warrant special consideration from PR
practitioners, acknowledges the existence of alternative viewpoints surrounding this
paper’s topic. In the following sections, the writer would like to address some notable
alternative viewpoints.
1. Not every crisis has to surface on social media
One alternative viewpoint that demands elaboration is the idea that while social
media is good at detecting crises, it is not going to pick up every single one. Indeed,
while the internet may seem to be infinitely resourceful, it may not yet feature every
piece of information. One cannot rule out the possibility that a major scenario taking
place offline somewhere in the world is happening without the online community
becoming aware. It is no different than to look for Hempel’s raven. Additionally, a crisis
may be picked up by traditional media but never go viral on social media. These
possibilities are impossible to deny and, for this paper’s discussion, will be omitted from
consideration.
54

(Figure 6.1
28
: Number of internet users worldwide from 2005 to 2017 (in millions), from Statista.com)

28
Statista. “Number of Internet Users Worldwide 2005-2017.” Statista, July 2017,
www.statista.com/statistics/273018/number-of-internet-users-worldwide/.
55

(Figure 6.2
29
: Number of social media users worldwide from 2010 to 2021 (in billions); 2018-2021 are
projected numbers, from Statista.com)

29
Statista. “Number of Internet Users Worldwide 2005-2017.” Statista, July 2017,
www.statista.com/statistics/273018/number-of-internet-users-worldwide/.
56

(Figure 6.3
30
: Global social network penetration rate by region as of January 2017, from Statista.com)
The reality is that over recent years, social media has been penetrating deeper into
our lives. Figures 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4 show that global internet coverage and social media
usage have been continuously rising. As of 2017, approximately one-third of the world is
connected to social media, and half of the world population is online. The implication of
these statistics for all digitally literate people is this: if a crisis that should concern them
erupts somewhere, it will without fail reach online and become picked up and initiated by

30
Statista. “Social Media: Worldwide Penetration Rate 2018 | Statistic.” Statista, Jan. 2018,
www.statista.com/statistics/269615/social-network-penetration-by-region/.
57

social media, eventually reaching them to be found out.
Alternatively, the “pick-up” process does not have to take place on social media;
traditional media institutions, such as regional newspapers, can also pick up stories that
have the potential of becoming crises. However, due to their limited reach and readership,
they will have to hand over the initiating process to social media. In this regard, social
media is once again playing the lead role in relation to traditional media where crises are
concerned.
2. Crises are not truly manageable
Along a more pessimistic line of thinking, crises resemble typhoons, forest fires and
earthquakes. Like a force of nature, they erupt with such incredible momentum that often,
they have already unfolded before anyone realizes it. Crisis communications, in these
cases, feel like vain attempts to salvage the wounded rather than control the initial
incident.
The argument is that there really is no way for one to truly intervene and contain
crises. The most that crisis communicators can do is to mitigate the damages and prepare
for recovery efforts, since the capacity to bring the storm to an end is very limited. In
other words, crisis communicators are just abiding by the Count of Monte Cristo’s
famous phrase “attends et espère” – to wait and hope.
To make matters worse, social media’s introduction since the turn of the century has
increased the efficiency at which messages spread across the world. Once Twitter, for
58

instance, latches onto a new crisis, within hours the incident will be trending and what
was once familiar only to a small group of people and could be easily contained will be
widely known throughout the online space. Most notably, social media encourages, both
directly and indirectly, instant conclusions to be drawn by the public, thereby further
adding fuel to the flames. This has been demonstrated in multiple major contemporary
social media crises, such as the United Airlines Flight 3411 incident in 2017. The viewers
who watched the video of Dr. Dao, a passenger who was forcibly removed, being beaten
up and read the commentary on Twitter could quickly conclude that United Airlines was
completely at fault and that Dr. Dao was the victim much in need of public support. No
PR efforts on social media could have saved United Airlines from being dragged in to the
court of public opinion. There was public outrage coming and like a tornado, it could be
seen miles away – yet no one could stop it.
All of these factors combined can seem to drastically increase the difficulty of
containing crises. All that is left to do is wait for the fire to burn out before committing to
action. Crisis PR practitioners, therefore, look more like undertakers than firefighters.
Nonetheless, a common misconception of crisis management is that everything in the
recovery effort must be delivered in quick succession, right as a crisis is forming. This is
simply untrue. Crisis management on social media is the same as crisis management
everywhere else. It cannot be done while the crisis is unfolding, much like a fire that has
just erupted in a gas station. The firefighters don not rush in right away, but carefully
59

discern an opportunity to first contain the situation, and then act to put out the flame after
all hidden risks are accounted for. In other words, crisis management must wait for a
crisis to be over first. Lehane, Fabiani and Guttentag noted this as being a part of crisis
management’s discipline; “Upon being hit with a crisis, there is an impulse to want to
quickly make right what went wrong and somehow swiftly put everything back just the
way it was previously.”
To put it differently, “damage control is a long-game endeavor.” (Lehane, Fabiani
and Guttentag, p. 46-47)
31
Recovery can take months or years. Some organizations may
never stand on their feet again. However, without the proper crisis procedures in place,
damages are almost certain to be greater. Crisis management is about the bigger picture.
Therefore, while it may be unpractical to expect every crisis be put out before it can form
– like in JCPenney’s case – it is the long-term effort that really represents crisis
management. Crises must first be contained at the correct opportunity before they can be
managed, mitigated and mended. Each step of this process is just as important as the
initial prevention, and it is this entire process as a whole that we recognized as the
discipline of crisis management.
3. Traditional media’s digitization does not mean that it is now social media
In earlier sections of this paper, the writer has discussed his view on traditional
media’s digitization and the incorporation of social media. The writer understands that

31
Lehane, Christopher, et al. Masters of Disaster: the Ten Commandments of Damage Control. Palgrave
Macmillan, 2014.
60

there may be opinions in dissent, arguing otherwise. Such arguments may point out that
despite the traditional media’s trending digitization and general movement towards social
media, it is still largely functioning as a separate entity from social media. Just because
traditional media has moved online and begun incorporating social media platforms in to
their digital operations should not give off the impression that all media are social now.
Even today, there is still a considerable difference between traditional and social
media. Most notably are how the two types of media generate and propagate messages.
Traditional media messages are created by established institutions, whereas social media
messages are created by everyone – from official organizations to common netizens.
Traditional media maintains its position as the renowned Fourth Estate, whereas social
media is a symbol of the new age – a product of Web 2.0 content-creation framework that
has just entered the picture. The former largely spreads messages one-way, from
broadcaster to recipient, while the latter allows dialogues to be created with every
message. In this regard, the two types of media still stand alone and should not be lumped
together. Traditional media’s digitization should be treated as a natural transformation of
its operational strategies, and therefore will not cause it to become “social.”
The writer would like to state his reserved agreement with the above arguments. In
earlier chapters of this paper, the writer did indeed point to the phenomenon of traditional
media increasingly embracing many social media traits. However, the writer
acknowledges the two media still perform very different roles in communications.
61

Instead, “all media is now social” refers to the functional similarities traditional and
social media are now seeing, on which the following paragraphs will elaborate.
Firstly, as of 2018, it is very hard to find an institution or an individual who is
connected on major media but does not have a social media presence. Figures 6.2 and 6.3
have shown that by 2021, much of the developed world (including many developing
countries) will be connected on some form of social media. Therefore, one can naturally
assume that all digital operations from media institutions must involve some aspects of
social media. Traditional media institutions have undergone similar transformations as
well.
Secondly, traditional media’s incorporation of social media aligns with other
companies’ efforts. There are many reasons why an organization would want to integrate
social media into its operations, but can largely fall under these categories: 1. Marketing
its contents and services, 2. Constructing its following and community and 3. Creating a
channel through which to obtain input. Looking at how the aforementioned examples of
The Telegraph and The New York Times have employed Twitter, we can understand that
these traditional media institutions have built their social media presence as doorways
through which they can bring in more audiences to view the digital media on their main
platforms – be it the print or the website version. This practice does not deviate from
other companies that are trying to market their own products and services. In other words,
how traditional media institutions incorporate social media is not bring anything new to
62

the table other than iterations of what other institutions have been doing already.
Therefore, specifically distinguishing traditional media’s integration of social media is
not necessary.
Thirdly, traditional media’s digitization and integration of social media is an
inevitable natural process, as is with all other forms of media. A century ago, traditional
media used to be exclusively print, until the arrival and popularization of the television
gave birth to the broadcast news industry during the 1940s. This process was natural
because all media have the need to reach out to the largest possible audience. Television
back then and social media today both do exactly this. “All media are social now” – just
as we proclaimed that “all media are televised now” seven decades ago. The need to
incorporate and move towards social media is natural and functionally required.

63

7. Five Recommendations for Operating in the Social Media Era
The challenges of conducting crisis communications in the 21
st
century are multi-
faceted. Crises, aided by technological advancements, are more diversified and volatile
than ever. However, luckily for PR practitioners, they now have access to an equally
potent tool set. The following recommendations are a distilled summary of professional
insights from this paper’s primary and secondary research, written to encourage more
creative and optimal utilization of the resources available.
1. Be swift, but nonetheless be accurate
Throughout this paper and other relevant literature on the topic of crises, there is a
recurring theme: speed, and its importance in an accelerating world. When a crisis erupts,
the first resource to become scarcely restrained is time, which forces decisions to be
made in shorter time frames. The prospect of responding at the earliest opportunity is
highly valued across all fields where PR is practiced. As a result, many mistakes have
been made in the race against time; untruthful information was delivered, conclusions
made prematurely and additional crises were born during the process.
The fact is that in the digital age, mistakes have become more punishing than ever.
Yet, people are still prone to making mistakes while pursuing the “ASAP,” often just not
being careful enough with the tools they have. In August 2011, “a partner at Morrison &
Foerster accidentally ‘replied all’ to an email on which ‘List/Attorney/All’ was cc’d”,
64

sending the reply to “all 1,000-plus Morrison & Foerster lawyers around the world.”
32

The email response was, “Why are we both still at this firm?” Needless to say, the result
from this simple one-liner was an instant crisis for Morrison & Foerster, or at least the
partner responsible and the branch they belonged to. This also happened during an
ordinary day, when there was no crisis to disrupt ordinary business operations. Yet, this
incident illustrates the ease of anything unfolding into a crisis. One can only imagine the
likelihood of similar human errors occurring during a crisis.
Should the pursuit for speed jeopardize the accuracy of the delivered content during a
crisis, the PR practitioner has no one to blame but themselves. It should thus be
especially stressed that while both speed and accuracy are to be emphasized, accuracy
should always take precedence over speed. When one must slow down to conduct fact-
checking, one simply should. Because often the organization involved in a crisis is
considered to be at fault by the public, “any answer [the organization] provides is going
to be poked and prodded by the audiences…with an extraordinary level of scrutiny. And
the slightest discrepancy will be seized upon and magnified.” (Lehane, Fabiani &
Guttentag, p. 31)
33
Simply put, the public will be on the lookout for any further mistake
during the firefighting efforts. No PR practitioner can afford exacerbating an already-
tough situation by adding fuel into the flame. To exercise additional caution, extra steps

32
Lat, David. “MoFo Partner Offers Cautionary Tale in Use of 'Reply All'.” Above the Law, Above the Law, 25 Apr.
2011, abovethelaw.com/2011/08/mofo-partner-offers-cautionary-tale-in-use-of-reply-all/.
33
Lehane, Christopher, et al. Masters of Disaster: the Ten Commandments of Damage Control. Palgrave
Macmillan, 2014.
65

to ensure the rigidity of release materials should be in place, such as additional rounds of
fact-checking.
2. Always remain on top of social media trends
One amazing function of social media is its ability to inform any keen individual
“what is going on,” on the daily news trends. PR practitioners who interact with social
media should make an active effort to become aware of every new hot topic – and every
new social media platform.
One reason to maintain this habit is because of the proverb, “The bigger they are, the
harder they fall.” Social media trends have a vast audience. Should anything happen to
the trending individuals and organizations, the same audience will naturally be keen on
keeping up with the resulting crisis, often participating directly in its growth and
dissemination. Knowing the trending topics thus keeps the PR practitioner informed and
prepared. When a crisis does happen, they will have a head start compared to everyone
else. When other PR practitioners are still busy reading the backgrounders, the prepared
ones can proceed straight to learning the crisis itself.
Furthermore, constantly remaining vigilant on social media allows one to become
more aware of one’s online surroundings. The advantage this gives the PR practitioner is
that they can spot the first signs of a crisis, actively detecting it in the process. When an
unlikely topic begins trending or when a social media monitoring tool detects increasing
negative sentiments, a social media-savvy professional will know to be more attentive.
66

Recommended social media habits are to keep a variegating following list across multiple
platforms to cover a range of topics and keywords, and to diversify online news sources.
Being familiarized with one’s work environment is highly important, and the same
applies to social media.
3. Leverage both traditional and social media to speak to your audience
Whether it is crisis communication or brand advertisement, PR in the 21
st
century
heavily relies upon both traditional and social media to achieve variegated PR objectives.
The goal of PR, after all, is about delivering information to an audience. Both types of
media have strengths to aid this purpose, and weaknesses to be considered. During a
crisis, the speed and accuracy at which one reaches an audience are put to the test. Simply
relying upon one type of media for any purpose can prove to be inefficient.
As such, PR practitioners should seek to balance the communicational methods in
relations to their core audiences. The key is to “know how your core audiences receive
their information and align your communication channels appropriately.” For instance,
during a crisis, if a brand’s user demographics is largely composed of seniors, relying
upon social media as the main channel of communication may not be wise. Similarly, if
the user demographics features primarily Democrats, communicating to them via
Breitbart News may not be as efficient as MSNBC. To put it differently, “effectively
targeting your core audience with the most reliable messenger will also support your
efforts to rebuild credibility and trust by keeping you focused on directing the right
67

information to the right people.” (Lehane, Fabiani & Guttentag, p. 77)
34

4. Navigate sensitive topics and boundaries with extra caution
In recent years, social media platforms have begun leaning towards political
liberalism. The idea of political correctness is emphasized across all levels of social
media, and online speeches are closely monitored by activists to ensure that certain
sensitive topics – such as those of race, religion, sexual orientation and politics – are
handled with care, especially by accounts with high levels of influence. This has fostered
an environment where the online speech generally leans towards the political left.
“Twitter has already seen enormous backlash on the right wing”, commented Cook, “for
conceived or alleged silencing of conservative viewpoints.”
The writer does not advocate for any ideological cause, and does not call for any
change to the current online speech environment; that is not the purpose of this paper. In
fact, no individual or organization alone has the power to influence such a change
overnight on social media. Instead, anyone who operates online should nonetheless be
mindful of this environment, especially when traversing the waters of certain topics.
Extra caution should be taken to ensure one does not accidentally step on a landmine.
An example can be seen from the very first case cited in this paper. Hellmann’s most
likely was not being malicious in its “Strangewich” tweet; it was only attempting to
incorporate the celebration of LGBTQ+ pride into its social media operations. However,

34
Lehane, Christopher, et al. Masters of Disaster: the Ten Commandments of Damage Control. Palgrave
Macmillan, 2014.
68

as Fearn-Banks would point out, “not every occasion is appropriate for brand use. A
common error that companies make on social media is using holidays, news events or
sensitive issues to promote their brands.” (Fearn-Banks, p. 89)
35
Sometimes, even when
the message is fully well-intended, if it is not perceived as such, then it is rightfully
erroneous and can seriously hurt the company.
While this is not to say that social media users should conduct witch hunts on
companies and monitor every one of their posts and tweets prior to sending, PR
practitioners should always keep in mind the organizations they are representing, and
carefully consider how their messages may be perceived – even if just slightly differently.
Social media can instantly communicate any message to anyone, and all mistakes are
closely scrutinized and magnified. Whether it is a rainbow-sparkled cheese sandwich
meant to represent the LGBTQ+ pride or a kettle somehow bearing a resemblance to the
Nazi dictator, the key issue lies not in how the message is crafted, but how it is
interpreted.
5. Be fully prepared: never rely solely upon wishful thinking
Lastly, but certainly not the least, the social media era is also a “naked” era. Human
civilization now has unforeseen capacity to store and retrieve information. As technology
continues to make what was once unthinkable into reality, the accessibility of information
changes as well. Just about everything now can be recorded and saved to file, where it

35
Fearn-Banks, Kathleen. Crisis Communications: a Casebook Approach. Routledge, 2016
69

can then be uploaded onto the internet and shared with the entire world.
However, not everything should be made public or have a spotlight pointed on it.
There will continue to be leaks, whistleblowers and media digging into the past to find
incriminating evidence. During President Trump’s campaign, countless clips of video and
audio surfaced from his past, leading to many scandals that would plague his campaign
and accompany him into the White House, such as “Pussygate.” The development of
scandals surrounding President Trump demonstrated that “everything can and will come
out. The issue is not if it will come out, but when it will come out.” (Lehane, Fabiani &
Guttentag, p. 63)
36

PR practitioners are therefore encouraged to prepare in advance for everything that
may one day bite their clients, starting with social media. Every post that was made,
however long ago, can and will be used against them. It may be during a crisis when
media are trying to dig up more leads, or it may be a competitor looking to damage the
reputation of the company. PR practitioners must understand that in the digital age,
nothing is truly private. Even a secured system can be hacked and the entirety of its
sensitive data stolen within a matter of hours, before anyone can react.
Therefore, during a crisis, the PR practitioner should assume that social media can
and will exacerbate the current situation. If a piece of information somewhere can further
steer the circumstances south, someone somewhere can and will pick up that piece and

36
Lehane, Christopher, et al. Masters of Disaster: the Ten Commandments of Damage Control. Palgrave
Macmillan, 2014.
70

magnify its destructiveness through traditional and social media. At that point, offering
full disclosure or being ready to apologize and make amends is highly recommended, and
may be the only viable options.

71

8. Conclusion
To recap, both traditional and social media continue to serve vital functions in a
crisis. Both provide valuable tools and resources to PR practitioners. Over the years and
going into the future, social media has been and is seeing increasing popularity
worldwide. Traditional media’s movement toward incorporating social media functions is
not only a natural response to changing demands, but also a showcasing of social media’s
expanding presence in the market of communication technologies. Because all media are
social now, the focus should no longer be about traditional media “versus” social media,
and instead focus on what social media has brought into the picture that warrant other
media to align accordingly.
At the same time, it is important to note that traditional media and social media still
play distinct, different roles for PR practitioners. Both types of media have strengths and
weaknesses in delivering different types of messages. When poorly employed, social
media can also hurt a brand’s image or greatly hamper the successful execution of a PR
campaign, as demonstrated in many instances discussed in this paper.
Looking ahead, human civilization will continue to witness more technological
advancements. Social media will continue to grow and take on newer forms. Perhaps how
people communicate in three, five or maybe ten years from this paper’s writing will be
drastically different compared to now. However, one thing is for certain. Crises will also
change in form, becoming more volatile and destructive in the process. Traditional media
72

will continue to exist, and may synergize with social media differently. Nonetheless, it is
up to the PR practitioner to intelligently leverage this relationship for action, as no two
crises are ever the same and they demand different combinations of traditional and social
media to effectively combat them. After all, as Alexander Pope so eloquently put it, “to
err is human” and crises will definitely continue to accompany us in our future. The only
question is when, and in what form?

73

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Asset Metadata

Creator Liu, Evan Yicong (author)

Core Title Traditional and social media in modern crisis communications

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 07/27/2018

Defense Date 07/27/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag China,Cook model,Crisis,key opinion leader,KOL,OAI-PMH Harvest,Public Relations,retention,social media,traditional media

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tenderich, Burghardt (committee chair), Floto, Jennifer (committee member), Lynch, Brenda (committee member)

Creator Email evanyiliu@gmail.com,evanyliu@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-35209

Unique identifier UC11668764

Identifier etd-LiuEvanYic-6534.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-35209 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-LiuEvanYic-6534.pdf

Dmrecord 35209

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Liu, Evan Yicong

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA