The Ethics Of Risk Communication - 1529 Words

There has to be a way or process by which officials communicate with the people about present, emerging and evolving risks that could impact their lives. This process is described by the term â€Å"Risk Communication†. Risk Communication is a process that flows both ways between the communicator and the recipients of the included message. Dr. Vincent T. Covello (1992) who is the founder and Director of the Center for Risk Communication defined Risk Communication as â€Å"The process of exchanging information among interested parties about the nature, magnitude, significance or control of a risk† (Covello, 1992). The sudden urge to communicate risk to people has been a result of legal and regulatory mechanisms regarding the community’s right to know.†¦show more content†¦However, Risk Communicators concluded that such communication could be most effective by querying how the message’s audience process and act on messages, resulting in the initiation of deeper research into the topic of Risk Communication. Baruch Fischhoff is a researcher who was one of the leading pioneers in the Risk Communication field. Fischhoff started researching and working on the Risk Communication field in the late 1970’s and built on earlier work and developed the following seven stages to implement on an audience for most effective communication, Fischhoff has been credited for identifying the Seven Evolutionary Stages of Risk Communication and Best Practices† (Fischhoff, 1995) Seven Evolutionary Stages of Risk Communication and Best Practices in 1995: 1. Get the numbers right. 2. Tell key publics what the numbers mean. 3. Explain what the numbers mean. 4. Show public they have accepted similar risks before. 5. Explain how risk benefits outweigh the costs. 6. Treat publics with respect; and 7. Make public partners with Risk Communicators. 8. Do all the above. Fischoff’s perspective that is reflected in the seven steps is supported by other researchers that believe in the consideration of society and culture of different publics as factors of effective communication. Understanding culture helps in understanding how