Gestión de la comunicación de crisis en secuestros: lecciones desde el “caso Alakrana”

This article seeks to analyze very specifically the errors in crisis communication management committed by the Spanish government in the case of the Basque tuna boat, the Alakrana. To this end, we have taken as a basis for analysis the guidelines for strategic communication in situations of crisis in order to demonstrate, based on these guidelines, the government’s failure in the definition of the messages, in time-management and in the collaboration with those involved in the direct or indirect resolution of the crisis. The final reflection deserves to be taken into account by politicians with regard to how to manage future hijackings as a public affair which, in the circumstances, occupies an ever greater place in political management and, consequently, in media attention.

José Carlos Losada Díaz, doctor en Comunicación, es profesor de Relaciones Públicas y Comunicación Corporativa en la Facultad de Comunicación y
Documentación de la Universidad de Murcia.
Rocío Zamora Medina, doctora en Comunicación Pública, es profesora agregada de Comunicación Política en la Facultad de Comunicación de la Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM).

KEY WORDS: crisis communication, political communication, public image, hijackings.
PALABRAS CLAVE: comunicación de crisis, comunicación política, imagen pública, secuestros.