Speakers » Surin Chung

Surin Chung is a doctoral candidate at the School of Journalism at University of Missouri Columbia. His research interest includes public relations, crisis and risk communications, and digital media. He received his master’s degree in Journalism and Communication from Iowa State University. He is a former public relations professional in South Korea. As a PR pro, he undertook various online and offline PR assignments for global clients such as Singapore Tourism Board, McDonald’s, and PUMA.

Crisis Leadership and the Discourse of Renewal: Lesson’s from Pope’s Messages Following a Sewol Ferry Disaster in South Korea

Using a theory of discourse of renewal, the study investigates media coverage on the Pope’s visit to South Korea following the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014. For this study, we analyzed how messages of Pope Francis as a leader had a nation-wide impact on healing public’s grief and anger through a thematic analysis.