Dr. WANG Huabin (王華斌)

Title of PhD thesis

A Critical Public Relations Approach to Crisis Communication and Management: A Case Study of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 Disappearance

Short abstract of thesis

Recent years have witnessed a request for research development in political public relations (PPR), which emphasizes the need to employ a critical approach in order to examine the social factors and their corresponding ideological effects (Martinelli 2011:44). The focus shifting from management to ideology necessitates the understanding of PR in terms of social power and influence (McKie & Munshi 2009). Specifically, PR management has become a useful means for political actors to exercise or change that power and “reconfigure dominant perceptions of the public interest” (Weaver, Motion and Roper 2006:21 quoted in Martinelli 2011:45). The present research argues for a critical public relations approach to crisis communication and management in analyzing the discursive construction of Malaysia’s image in crisis with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance as a case study.