What determines whether disaster communication protects the public—or serves political interests? Drawing on nearly three decades of evidence from the Philippines and Vietnam, our study develops a Hybrid Crisis Communication System model showing how political structures, media environments, and institutional arrangements shape what becomes visible during disasters. By placing two Southeast Asian cases at the center of theory building, the labC’s research challenges Western assumptions about effective crisis communication and reveals the political conditions underlying disaster governance.
A labC contribution to understanding the political governance of disaster communication in Southeast Asia.