Amiso George
Professor of Strategic Communication Texas Christian University
- Fort Worth TX
Dr. George teaches courses in crisis communication, strategic campaigns, strategic writing, case studies, global communication and images.
Media
Social
Biography
A board member of the Commission for Public Relations Education, George studies the role of culture in risk and crisis communication as well as transboundary crisis communication. She is the co-editor of three books, including Culture and Crisis Communication: Transboundary Cases from Nonwestern Societies (Wiley, 2017), Crisis Communication: International Perspectives on Hits and Misses (Routledge, 2012) and Race, Gender and Other Minorities: Readings for Professional Communicators (Cognella, 2012). George consults on risk and crisis communication strategies.
Areas of Expertise
Accomplishments
Worthy Award of Excellence, Greater Fort Worth Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
2017
Bridge Award for Excellence in Strategic Communication Research, International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference and the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida
2017
Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Educator of the Year
2017
Worthy Award of Excellence, Greater Fort Worth Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
2019
Education
Ohio University
B.S.
Journalism & Interpersonal Communication
Ohio University
M.A.
International Relations
Ohio University
Ph.D.
Mass Communication
Affiliations
- Public Relations Society of America
- International Communication Association
- International Association of Business Disciplines
Media Appearances
Amiso George Blends Culture and Crisis Communication
TCU Magazine online
“They weren’t communicating amongst each other as they should,” George said. “Think us, not me. How do you solve the problem quickly? It’s not the time for individuality.”
As a former journalist, George brings an objective eye to her work. Her nearly 30-year career as a professor, researcher and consultant in crisis communication spans the globe from Australia to Kuwait.
Four Tips for Managing Crisis Communications in the COVID-19 Era
Inside Higher Education online
The COVID-19 crisis has put colleges and universities on the frontlines of crisis communications, and George has been providing tactical strategies to mitigate pandemic-induced fear and confusion. “No crisis manual could have prepared any organization for coping with the coronavirus,” says George. “But even in this most extraordinary crisis, there are a few things we can do to help us navigate better.”
Event Appearances
“The Role of Apologies in Reputation Management”
2020 | International Risk and Crisis Communication (ICRC) Conference Orlando, Florida
“Keys to Managing Crisis in a Pandemic Era”
2020 | Crisis Communication seminar hosted by the School of Media and Communication Studies (SMCS), University of Management and Technology Lahore, Pakistan
“Moving Towards the New Era of Industrial Revolution 4.0: The Case for Effective Crisis Communication”
2019 | First Communication and Public Relations Seminar at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Malaysia
Articles
Are We Speaking Their Language: The Presence of Content Important to Gen Z in Entry-Level PR Job Advertisements
Journal of Public Relations Education2024
The recent Commission on Public Relations (2023) report contains a chapter recommendation calling on PR educators to help students understand their priorities and values that might impact job searches and career plans. However, knowledge of their priorities and values is only helpful if the job information discusses them. Numerous studies have investigated employer expectations of PR job applicant’s skills based on analysis of the advertisement content. Few, if any, have examined the subject from the job candidate’s perspective, in this case, Generation (Gen) Z, those born from the mid-1990s to 2010. Employers need to understand the characteristics of Gen Z that differentiate them from previous generations if they are to effectively recruit and retain them in an increasingly competitive job market. This study examines the content of 102 employment advertisements being used by organizations to fill entry-level public relations positions to ascertain if they effectively communicate organizational values, priorities, and culture that would attract Gen Z candidates, such as the organization’s commitment to society and to the employees.
Communication Lessons from the Ukraine War: The Strategies, Narratives, and Implications of the Information Warfare
Journal for Communication Studies2023
In the context of the war in Ukraine, various forms and means of communication have been utilized by actors involved in and impacted by the conflict, with differing target publics and degrees of effectiveness, yet with an overall sense that an information warfare is taking place. This special issue seeks to make a contribution to the understanding of the strategic communication practices related to armed conflict, and in particular of the premises, patterns, and outcomes of the information warfare pertaining to the war in Ukraine. Specifically, the articles in this special issue make sense of aspects of the information warfare by focusing on: a) communication lessons from the Ukraine war in regard to the effectiveness of strategies and narratives employed in situations of armed conflict and particularly in the information warfare component of conflict, and b) ethical implications of communication campaigns and propaganda in times of war, specifically related to how we identify and address the alarming issues related to the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
A comparative analysis of U.S. state government communication and resident compliance to CDC COVID-19 guidelines
Journal of Applied Communication Research2023
As COVID-19 raged through the United States, Americans were inundated with messages from multiple and competing sources, some based on political ideologies, fueled by misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation via cable and social media. This study uses the IDEA model for effective instructional risk and crisis communication to examine the role of state governors in encouraging compliance with public health recommendations. It examines the relationships between messages sent in high- and low-compliance states, between state compliance levels and tendencies in public attitudes, and between messages sent and resident decisions about COVID-19 compliance. We analyzed press release messages from governors of five states with high immigrant populations and surveyed the public in these states to examine compliance rates regarding COVID-19 protective actions. Findings illustrate that perceived source credibility is critical to behavioral compliance regardless of message content adherence and that political ideology may become a competing narrative and may influence resident decisions.
Apologies as identification management: A theoretical model
Public Relations Review2021
Apology research within public relations tends to focus on how to craft effective apologies. Research in psychology and other disciplines offers explanations for how changes in people’s state of mind lead them to forgive their offenders. This study uses rhetorical theory to bridge the gap between how apologies are constructed and how they produce psychological changes in recipients. We posit that identification, the concept of aligning oneself with the values, goals, or beliefs of another, explains this phenomenon. Effective apologies communicate to key stakeholders that offenders agree with their values and are committed to upholding those values in the future, thus establishing identification. We use three examples to illustrate our theoretical model: Donald Sterling’s ban from the NBA, United Airlines’ mistreatment of a passenger, and Urban Meyer’s mishandling of an employee involved in domestic violence.
An IDEA Model Analysis of Instructional Risk Communication in the Time of Ebola
Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research2018
The Ebola outbreak and its rapid spread throughout West Africa and other countries was a megacrisis that imposed numerous challenges to those communicating to nonscientifi c publics about the epidemic. This article examines the instructional risk messages off ered in the days that followed the 2014 infection and death of Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas, Texas. More specifi cally, we apply the IDEA model for eff ective instructional risk and crisis communication embellished by exemplifi cation theory to conduct a thematic analysis of messages off ered locally (Dallas news stories and press releases), nationally (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Live Chat Twitter posts), and internationally (website content from the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and Doctors Without Borders). Our conclusions reveal that the majority of messages off ered from each organization privileged the element of explanation over internalization and action as well as negative over positive exemplifi cation.
