The membership body the Global Crowd Management Alliance (GCMA) has published Words Matter: The Language of Crowds. It’s a free guide aimed at informing how professionals and the public talk about crowds, especially during and after major incidents.
The GCMA says that the document defines key terms used in crowd safety work, highlights common misunderstandings, and offers clear distinctions between proactive crowd management and reactive crowd control. It addresses the media’s role in shaping public perception and calls for greater accuracy and care in the language used to describe crowd-related events.
Anne Marie Chebib, Chair of the United Kingdom Crowd Management Association (UKCMA), a founding partner of GCMA, said: “Terms like ‘panic’ and ‘stampede’ are often used within minutes of a tragedy. But these words are not only vague, they can mislead investigations, distort public understanding, and shift focus away from the systemic causes that must be addressed.”
And Jacob Worek, speaking on behalf of the GCMA, said: “Language informs response, policy, and public trust. When we use clear, accurate terminology rooted in evidence and experience, we not only help prevent future incidents, we also ensure that the dignity of those affected is respected.”
Words Matter was developed by GCMA members through The Control Room, the body’s monthly roundtable discussion group. It is intended not only for crowd management professionals, but for journalists, editors, legal professionals and public authorities who may be called on to describe or explain crowd dynamics in public forums. Covered are definitions of terms such as crowd crush, surge, collapse, and ‘showstop’, a planned intervention to prevent harm, reflecting the principle that no show is worth a life; the critical difference between crowd management and crowd control; and terms that misrepresent crowd behaviour, such as ‘panic’ and ‘stampede’.
Visit thegcma.com.
Photo by Mark Rowe: outside Twickenham Stadium, west London.
