Crisis communication is the life blood of crisis management: when communication is ineffective so is the crisis management effort. This book emphasizes the role of communication throughout the crisis management process. W. Timothy Coombs uses a three-staged approach to crisis management - pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis. He reviews the latest research, explains how crisis communication can prevent or reduce the threats of a crisis, and provides guidelines for how best to act and react in an emergency situation.

New to the Third Edition:

• A new chapter on the Internet and social media, showing how it has become both a tool for recognizing warning signs as well as a key channel for communicating with stakeholders during a crisis

• Updated discussion throughout to reflect the importance of the online world: The book explores the concept of paracrisis; covers online preparations organizations should make; considers the effects of social media on the crisis response; and explores the emergence of online memorials

• Integrates crisis management with three other proactive management functions - issues management, risk management, and reputation management - demonstrating that the best way to manage a crisis is to prevent one

• A new epilogue summarizing key lessons for managers from the vast crisis communication research literature.

Key Features:

• "What would you do?" cases are included throughout. With information from a real crisis event, a series of questions allow students to apply concepts in the chapter to the case

• Discussion Questions are provided at the end of each chapter, helping readers extend their understanding of the material.