Citation

Garbis Z, Cox A, Orttung RW. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. 2023; 91: e103682.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103682

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Increasingly frequent wildfires are affecting residents in the wildland-urban interface in Interior Alaska. How might fire communicators convey risk and crisis information to meet growing concerns about wildfire impacts among a diverse audience of residents? This research draws on focus group data to map residents' understandings of the infosphere of Interior Alaska throughout the stages of wildfire events. Residents' different information-seeking habits reflect their particular concerns related to family and work, levels of trust in government and media, and personal networks. Fire communicators can best cater to these audiences by using a tailored approach. To explore what this might look like, we employ portraiture methodology to form composite portraits of four example audiences for wildfire information: residents who are energetic information seekers, those too busy to actively seek out information, residents who are off the grid, and those who are part of Indigenous communities with strong interpersonal networks. Using portraiture methodology allows us to capture the richness and nuance of the contexts in which risk and crisis information-seeking takes place while contributing to filling a knowledge gap on how best to tailor information to specific audiences. Risk and crisis communications designed with the diversity of these portraits in mind might more effectively reach their intended audiences with the most relevant information.

Language: en

Keywords

Alaska; Audiences; Communication; Infosphere; Portraits; Wildfire