Flint, Michigan Water Crisis Case Study

Part 1: Crisis and Post Crisis Responses: The Flint, Michigan Water Crisis Case Living just two hours south of Flint, MI, I followed the news stories about their water crisis pretty closely. Organizations from all across the state and beyond offered assistance to the people of Flint. It became a household topic of conversation. My recommendations for the mayor of Flint at this point in time is to sit down and do a very serious evaluation of the crisis communication. It is time to put the scapegoating and blame aside and take an honest look at what they did and didn’t do to navigate their stakeholders through this crisis situation. Coombs (2015) suggests that, “Organizations learn to improve their crisis management through evaluation.” Coombs …show more content…
178). I believe a good example of communication technology and globalization is the upcoming Olympic games that will take place in August in Brazil. The 24/7 news cycle coupled with social media has delivered multiple news coverage to us about the public health concern and infectious disease that is carried by mosquitoes in Brazil called the Zika virus. According to an article by Dr. Ford Vox (2016), “Brazil will be open to the world this August and prospective travelers will need to stay alert to the evolving Zika threat, and the Olympics organizers have much work ahead in earning and maintaining the trust of the international community.” With the capabilities of social media and live streaming, we will get a first-hand look into the Olympics and what Brazil has done to keep everyone safe and healthy. Crisis managers will need to be scanning and monitoring all of the social media outlets during the Olympics games to keep any potential dangerous situation under control. Coombs (2015) stresses the importance that crisis managers need to understand each of the social media channels and know how to “harness the power of social media by integrating it into efforts to scan for and monitor for crisis threats” (p.