1. Jenna L. Currie-Mueller
Defining Mega-Crisis: Explication and Implications for the Field of Crisis Communication
Jenna L. Currie-Mueller

2. Background Organization is privileged Expanding field and contexts
Need inclusivity

3. A new form of crisis Tight-coupling Increased entropy of society
New events that defy current understanding

4. What is a mega-crisis?
Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

5. What is a mega-crisis?
Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

6. What is a mega-crisis?
Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

7. What is a mega-crisis?
Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

8. What is a mega-crisis?
Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

9. What is a mega-crisis?
Unique crises that permeate throughout society, affect multiple publics, and require societal intervention in order to contain or resolve the crisis.

10. Implication & Application
BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill (MC)
Malaysian Airlines flight 370
Syrian refugee crisis (MC)

11. Selected References
Albaba-Bertrand, J. (2000). Responses to complex humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters: An analytical comparison. Third World Quarterly 21(2), Dopfer, K., Foster, J., & Potts, J. (2004). Micro-meso-macro. Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 14, Drombrowsky, W. R. (1998). Again and again: Is a disaster what we call a “disaster”? In E. L. Quarantelli’s What is a disaster? Perspectives on the question. New York, NY: Routledge. Helsloot, I., Boin, A., Jacobs, B., & Comfort, L. (2012). The new challenges of mega-crises. In I. Helsloot, A. Boin, B. Jacobs, & L. Comfort (Eds). Mega-crises: Understanding the prospects, nature, characteristics and effects of cataclysmic events. Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas. Seeger, M. W., Sellnow, T. L., & Ulmer, R. R. (2003). Communication and organizational crisis. Westport, CT: Praeger. Seeger, M. W., Schwarz, A., & Auer, C. (2016). Risk, crisis, and the global village: International perspectives. In A. Schwarz, M. W. Seeger, & C. Auer (Eds.). The handbook of international crisis communication research. (p ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons. Waymer, D. & Heath, R. L. (2007). Emergent agents: The forgotten publics in crisis communication and issues management research. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 35, 88–108. Wickline-Getchell, M. & Sellnow, T. L. (2016). The unparalleled spread of Ebola as a Mega-Crisis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Central States Communication Association. Grand Rapids, MI.