Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 514
Below the threshold, above the anger
Sandman’s framework separates technical exposure from public concern so leaders can address risk evidence and contested decision processes together
Premise
A risk estimate can be accurate and still fail to answer the objection in front of a board. Residents who contest a facility may be asking not only how dangerous it is, but who imposed the exposure, who benefits, and why warnings were withheld. Sandman’s Hazard–Outrage Framework for Risk Communication identifies two different dimensions that an institution must investigate.
Answers about exposure do not resolve questions about fairness, control, or trust. A governance decision that treats continued opposition as ignorance can deepen the very grievance it has overlooked. The first decision is therefore which problem needs answering: technical damage, the conditions of bearing that risk, or both. The difference affects who attends the meeting, which evidence is commissioned, and whether public participation can still change the decision.
What the model is: Sandman’s Hazard–Outrage Framework for Risk Communication in Knowledge →
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- Risks and limits
- Executive takeaway
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- FamilyModel
- CategoryAnalytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
- DomainRisk, Crisis & Safety
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Analytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
Organizes dimensions, distinctions, types or questions so that a situation can be examined systematically. A framework supplies structure, a typology distinguishes forms, and a heuristic offers a usable way to orient judgment.