Media Relations in Crisis Management: A Case study of Kabale District local government.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2026-10-15
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Uganda Christian University
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of media relations in crisis management in organizations. In the modern highly interconnected ommunication
era, organizations are faced with different kinds of crises such as reputation threats, financial frauds, operational failures, and public relations problems. In such cases, media relations were very important in influencing the process of communicating the information via traditional and new media channels. Media relations allowed organizations to control information, reduce misinformation, and maintain stakeholder confidence in the situation of a crisis. The study was based on the theory of excellence in public relations. This theory focuses on the importance of two-way symmetrical communication in organization-public relations. The study used a descriptive research design and a mixed-methods approach including quantitative and qualitative methods. The population for the study will include employees, stakeholders, communication specialists, and public relations professionals in the selected organization. The data collection tools will include questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions. The study is supposed to reveal media relations practices of organizations in the case of a crisis, investigate the role of media relations in enhancing crisis management, and examine organizational challenges in managing media relations. The results are expected to indicate that the methods such as press releases, media briefings, spokespersons, and digital media updates played a significant role in shaping the outcome of the crisis through enhancing communication clarity and transparency. The research was expected to prove that media relations were an important aspect of the crisis management process as it not only improved communication effectiveness but also reinforced organizational reputation and trust. These results proved to be highly beneficial for the communication specialists, organizational managers, policy-makers, and researchers.
Description
A Research report submitted to the School of Mass Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication Uganda Christian University
Keywords
Citation
APA