Framing Disaster Communication as Audience Analysis and Group Communication

Audience analysis is a concept that cuts across all types of communication. It draws attention to the strategic nature of communication designed to influence. Once a potential audience for communication is identified, an effort to plan for the roles, rules, and relations contributing to communication with the group or within the group becomes more transparent. For example, in considering audiences for disaster communication activities, the media, the public, first responders, businesses, hospitals, and public health practitioners are among the audiences to include in plan. Communication with each of these audiences varies along the lines of the roles, rules, and intermember relations. Table 1 suggests some of these possible differences.

Table 1. Variances Between Groups to Consider in Disaster Communication

Audience	Roles	Rules	Relations
Media	To inform the public	Be there, be first, be accurate	Competitive
Public	To be informed	Protect self and family, safeguard home and livelihood	Trust some public sources and distrust others
First Responders	To assist affected citizens	Give aid	Altruistic
Businesses	To safeguard business and employees	Protect information	Profit and survival oriented
Hospitals	To provide health care services	Be accessible and equitable	Caring and curing
Public Health Practitioners	To safeguard the public's health	Exercise authority to protect the population	Bureaucratic and hierarchical
Volunteers	To offer support	Augment other emergency service providers	Decentralized and independent actors