I got a chance to attend a lecture presentation last night by Dr. Gregory Button, a professor in the Department of Anthropology on his reseach on the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill in March 1989. Numerous presentations are being made on this crisis since the 20th Anniversary of the oil spill is coming in a few days (March 24th). Dr. Button’s research interests includes Communities in Crisis (Disasters), Environmental Anthropology, Medical Anthropology, Bioterrrorism, Coastal Communities, and Anthropologyand the Media. Dr. Button has extensive knowledge and research background in regards to this particular case (he had the opportunity to do his dissertation on this case while it was happening in 1989) as well as other environmental and health disasters.
I attended the presentation because throughout my public relations education – from Florida to USC to Tennessee – the Exxon Valdez case was one of the fundamental case studies on what a corporation is not supposed to do in terms of their public relations and crisis communication practices. I thought that it would be a great learning experience to hear what other researchers are doing in regards to one of the major crises in the last couple of decades, and what conclusions and insights arise from looking at all of these different perspectives. In public relations, we focus a lot on the PR message strategies and crisis communication responses that were implemented – but what was great about the presentation that Dr. Button shared was the pictures and individual stories of people involved in this case. From community leaders to business owners and the creation of “spillionaires” to even the challenges that journalists were facing in covering the story – it was all very fascinating.
Dr. Button provided great insight into the environmental, business, and reputation damage that this case caused – and combined many different perspectives together in analyzing these case. There were so many different view points on this particular issue – from the business aspect to the community residents and even the media. So many individuals that were part of this case faced numerous environmental and health challenges. I felt that it was a very interesting and insightful research presentation. 🙂
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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