6. All these players communicate

6.1 Information and communication

We've just taken a brief look at the organization responsible for responding to a serious post-accident crisis. It is based on principles, laws, structures, plans and players. I must now turn to what I call the thorny problem of communication.

Indeed, reading the many books, reports and articles devoted to crisis communication, it quickly becomes difficult to discern who's talking about what. On the one hand, given the number of players involved, it is legitimate for them to express themselves – or those who speak on their behalf – and that's a lot of people, and therefore a lot of authorized opinions. On the other hand, the meanings given to the words "communication" or "information" are so disparate, and the shifts in meaning...