Public Relations, Branding and Authenticity

8 Crisis management in the digital age

Harnessing the reputational influence of social media

The digital evolution that has impacted general public relations practice is just as significant for specialist crisis and risk communications work (Coombs 2017), but to some extent it remains an underutilised resource (Lin et al 2016). Crucially, the internet has empowered stakeholders with the ability to force organisations into transparency. Engaged netizens are taking the opportunity to reveal previously private corporate practices, and are demanding greater organisational integrity in relation to ethics and social responsibility (Taekke 2017). The advent of new digital media also means that crises can now emerge from non-organisational sources, ...