Promoting Integrity in the Face of Disruption: A Case for Expanding Communication Theory

Abstract

The inability to anticipate and address the current disruptive onslaught in communications has contributed to the erosion of trust in journalism, given rise to social media echo chambers, spawned “infodemics” that cause confusion during health crises and precipitated the rise of “low information” voters. In 2023, The Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication published a call for original research that would expand existing communication theory or borrow theory from other disciplines that would help better explain and critique the current disruptive communication ecosystem. This forum represents the collective vision of the Page/Johnson Legacy Scholars for reimagining communication theory to confront a wide range of current communication challenges: disaster communicators’ mental health; misinformation; disinformation; organization-public relationship management; and the amplification of the public voice in mass communication. The scholars make a persuasive case for the need to expand existing theory, as well as the need to integrate fresh theoretical perspectives into communication scholarship to keep communication research relevant and useful.