REINTERPRETING CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS IN THE POST-TRUTH ERA

As we enter a new era marked by changing values, driven by disruptive technologies and leading to the erosion of trust, organizations today are facing crises at greater frequency than in the past. Transformation is a phenomenon that appears to have taken place in each and every period of history, but it has never been as rapid, comprehensive, and unpredictable as we observe it today. There are an increasing number of people who name the era that we currently live in as the post-truth era where the focus is on narratives, their significance, and their abilities of persuasion, rather than focusing on presenting knowledge or the truth. Causality, or the rational paradigm, that was defended by modernism, does not seem to have enough prowess to interpret today’s complexity and phenomena. This perspective and transformation are also valid for at organizations that encounter crises. This article gives a theoretical framework for scrutinising how organizations deal with obstacles within post-truth times. It suggests that the value-based and emotionally-driven framework of the narrative paradigm might be the most powerful communication approach adopted by an organization during a corporate crisis in this new era.

POST-TRUTH DÖNEMDE KRİZ İLETİŞİMİNİ YENİDEN YORUMLAMAK

Değişen değerler ve teknolojinin baş döndürücü etkisiyle içine girdiğimiz yeniçağda organizasyonlar, geçmişte deneyimlediklerinden daha sık bir şekilde krizle karşı karşıya kalmaktadırlar. Dönüşüm kuşkusuz tarihin bütün dönemlerinde gerçekleşmiştir ancak hiçbir zaman günümüzdeki kadar hızlı, kapsamlı ve öngörülemez olmamıştır. İçinden geçtiğimiz dönemi, bilgi veya hakikati açıklamaya yönelmekten ziyade; anlatılara, onların anlamlarına ve ikna becerilerine odaklanılan post-truth (gerçek ötesi) dönem olarak adlandıranlar giderek artmaktadır. Modernizmin savunucusu olduğu nedensellik (rational paradigm) günümüz dünyasının karmaşıklığını ve olgularını açıklayabilecek nitelikte görünmemektedir. Bu perspektif, ve dönüşüm, kriz vakalarıyla karşı karşıya kalan organizasyonlar için de geçerlidir. Bu makale, kuruluşların içinden geçtiğimiz post-truth zamanlarda krizlerle nasıl başa çıkabileceklerine yönelik teorik bir çerçeve sunmaktadır. Anlatı paradigmasının değerlere dayalı ve duygusal bir yaklaşım sunan çerçevesi, söz konusu yeni dönemde özellikle kriz iletişiminde kullanabilecek güçlü olanaklar sunmaktadır.

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