Commentary: Risk communication in context: Theories, models, research, and future endeavors

Attempts to understand, explain, and predict individuals' risk perceptions and risk-related behaviors continue to fascinate scholars both within and outside the communication discipline. Outside of the aca demic realm, as noted by Griffin, Dunwoody, and Yang, understanding and effectively communicating risk is a critical task for agencies such as the federal government, which has found itself a "spokesperson" of sorts for numerous catastrophic events in the recent past, whether natural disasters, environmental catastrophes, or disasters and events arising from political dissension and unrest.