Back to search

SAMRISK-2-Samfunnssikkerhet og risiko

Communicating Risk in the Digital Age

Alternative title: Risikokommunikasjon i en digital tidsalder

Awarded: NOK 5.0 mill.

Risk communication comprises a range of processes, from collecting, processing and analyzing information about risks, to the dissemination of risk information to different audiences. Taken together, these different processes of risk communication make up what we actual consider as risk, and how we related to them. Yet, because of rapid developments in communication technology and the transformation of information into digital forms through various forms of new media, the function of risk communication has undergone comprehensive changes. The way information is created, verified, legitimated, and transmitted has become more instantaneous and diffuse. Whereas a decade ago news media and governmental bodies could consider themselves the predominant actors in shaping how threats and crises were understood and dealt with, new actors and new communication technologies have since changed this picture in significant ways. The assurance of clear, verifiable sources of information, as a pillar of modern democratic governance, is confronted by new and increasingly varied sources of information. The rise of participatory and social media allows for new modes of defining and exchanging information about risk, and offers platforms to various actors and communicators. With partners from Norway, Europe and North America, the DIGICOM project has explored the hypothesis that this digitalisation - the integration of digital technologies into everyday life - has deeply impacted risk communication. The project has contributed to a refined understanding of what the digital is, and how the fact that large amounts of data are stored, structured and shared through different channels, affects the way risk is defined, perceived and communicated about. It has mapped different types of actors involved in risk communication, from the traditional public authorities to the new types of actors, emerging as a result of the existence of digital platforms. It has shown that, by introducing more direct, instantaneous, but also more informal forms of communication, it fundamentally transforms the interactions, roles and expectations among actors involved in risk communication. New forms of activity in this area, that were not even foreseen a few years ago, have also been identified and studied, from digital vigilantism, digital crisis mappers and smart phones being used by governments as a medium to assess security risks of persons seeking asylum. As a contrast to the instantaneity of communication on social media, the project has also identified the dilemmas tackled by national authorities in the balancing between secrecy around sensitive information and a desire for more direct and open communication around national threats assessments. Webpage: http://www.prio.org/Projects/Project/?x=1110

Risk communication comprises a range of processes, from collecting, processing and analyzing information about risks, to the dissemination of risk information to different audiences. Taken together, these risk communication processes contribute to determi ning what is in fact considered as a risk, and participate in the construction of a society?s understanding of its own security. Yet, because of rapid developments in communication technology and a general digitalisation of information, the function of ri sk communication has recently undergone comprehensive changes. The way information is constituted, verified, legitimated, and transmitted has become more instantaneous and diffuse. Whereas a decade ago news media and governmental bodies could consider the mselves the sole actors in shaping how threats and crises were understood and dealt with, new actors and new communication technologies have changed this picture in ways we as yet do not fully understand. The assurance of discrete and verifiable sources o f information, a pillar of modern democratic governance, is confronted by new and increasingly varied sources of information. The rise of participatory and social media allows for new modes of defining and exchanging information about risk, and offers pla tforms to various actors and communicators. By mobilising partners from Norway, Europe and North America, the DIGICOM project will explore the hypothesis that digitalisation, the integration of digital technologies into everyday life, has not only impact ed risk communication, but that is still transforming it. DIGICOM focuses on the promises and pitfalls of the digitalisation of risk communication.

Publications from Cristin

No publications found

No publications found

Funding scheme:

SAMRISK-2-Samfunnssikkerhet og risiko