Tag: Crisis

Categories
Media & Press Media - Text

[MEDIA] Keep calm and carry on: a slogan for an age of crisis in @ConversationUK

With my book officially released today, I wrote a piece for The Conversation (‘Academic rigour, journalistic flair’). The piece starts:

The slogan Keep Calm and Carry On has been ubiquitous within newspaper headlines in 2017 as the UK careered from one crisis to another. It seems to sum up a very British character – yet it is used the world over to represent the fight against adversity. Some people may be getting sick of it but it is now firmly stamped in the national consciousness and is here to stay.

Having tracked use of the slogan since 2009 on Google Alerts, there has been a noticeable rise in its use in 2017, from a couple each day, to over fifteen for a few days after each crisis. This follows attacks at Westminster Bridge, Manchester Arena, Parsons Green and after the Grenfell Tower disaster. Headlines included: Keep Calm and Carry On; Why shaken Manchester will keep calm and carry on after the terror attack; Day After London Attack, Britons Keep Calm and Carry on Drinking; and Grenfell, Brexit, EU: Keep Calm and Carry On?.

Read full article.

Categories
Media & Press Media - Audio

Social media: helpful or hurtful in a crisis like #Manchester, Drive with @DelaneyMan, @TalkRadio

Thanks to all those who responded on Facebook regarding the story of ‘how problematic is social media for the kind of event that happened in Manchester (at the Ariana Grande concert)’, does it add to the drama, and what is the responsibility of social media companies in all this? Especially interested in this academic paper from Cardiff University in which the following stages of social media response to a crisis appear evident: reporting, requesting, responding/recruiting, risking, retaliation, rumour, remember and resilience (explained briefly in the clip):

Categories
Digital

Social Media Plays a Big Role in Helping Haiti

Retweets from the States has meant that Red Cross has been trending for around 24+ hours, as people are asked to donate $10 each via text messaging. My tweet 9 hours ago: “Red Cross have been using amazing text campaign for Haiti in the States, but in UK, can donate online: http://ow.ly/WfBA“. ITV ‘This Morning’ has started to appear on Twitter this morning: “RT @itvthismorning: Haiti Emergency Appeal http://bit.ly/81BXKE Red Cross 24hr Donation Line: 0845 053 5353.” Interesting to see comments people are making – in the States, reflections on how easily $10 is throw away, and how much difference each individual can make… inspiring stuff.