Previously sent Sept. 12, 2013 to incorrect address: Reading Summary-1- Covering Disasters

Chris Schippers

References

Hernandez., D. (1994). Covering disasters. Editor & Publisher, 127(41), 13

Theme

The underlying emphasis of this article is to discuss the impact and importance that the media can and will have if they follow the right channels to mitigate and prevent the effects future disasters.

Summary

·         Media has an important role to play in not only alerting the public of the disaster which occurred, but also to be actively engaged as effective means of preventative and rescue operations.

·         As the years pass, disasters are increasing as well as the mortality rate.

·         Information reported should be timely and accurate in order to influence a decrease in mitigation and reduce the mortality rate and damage.

·         Media and mitigation organizations need to develop, strengthen, and maintain clear working relationships to accomplish the task of mitigation and preventative rescue operations most effectively.

·         Media entities are encouraged to focus on disaster prevention and reduction instead of focusing on the negative aspects of disasters such as loss of life, or destruction.

·         The author finishes the article with specific recommendations given in the Annenberg report detailing what can be done and what should be done to mitigate further loss and destruction of life and property.

Application to the Lesson Topic

By adhering to the suggestions of this article, the media has a ginormous impact and or an innate responsibility to do what they can to prevent any further loss of life of destruction.  The media is and has always been a channel of warning and should be used more for this purpose rather than to look to boost its ratings by portraying the negative or graphic aftermath.  As this article expresses, there is so much more that should be done to mitigate and educate on disaster prevention.  Why are we drawn to the carnage instead of first being prompted to look for methods that can be used to help it all from happening?

Application to Emergency Services 

This article relates to emergency services in that they are showing ways in which emergency and media personnel can and should work together to prevent and mitigate any further damages that can result out of negligence to disaster warnings.  If the media were to follow the suggestions described in this article than the payload for emergency responders would decrease as they would have less casualties and less of a population to worry about.  

Reading Summary 9

Lesson 9 - Reading Summary

The Peoples Press Conference

Jeff Neal

Reference: MELBER, ARI; The Peoples Press Conference; Nation; 4/6/2009, Vol. 288 Issue 13, p22-24. 3p.

 

Theme: With the technology that exists today we can reach the citizens in larger numbers.  Journalists and leaders no long need to guess what the public wants, they can ask them.  Through a new website the people can submit questions they want to ask the president or any elected official in the next press conference.  these questions are submitted online and then voted on by everyone in the country as to which questions are the most important to be answered.

 

Summary: This article discusses the idea of getting the right questions answered by the president during press conferences. New people would be invited to the press conference armed with questions that are the most important to the citizens.

President Obama promised a more open and transparent government, and to make this happen has invited questions from media that are are new to the press conferences not just allowing questions from the same media members that have been there for years.

The Nation, Washington Times and other media members have created a forum for the public to summit questions to be answered in future press conferences.  Everyone can participate, in submitting questions and then voting what questions should be answered by the president.  If you have a question you can summit this questions on "Ask The President" on communitycounts.com in the form of a video and then the public will view all the videos and vote as to which questions are the most important to ask the president during the next press conference.

The presidential press conferences of the past have been very exclusive, with only certain media member invited.  And the questions needed to be submitted ahead of time and the president would know before the press conference started which questions he would answer.  This would change in this new forum, a journalist would come to the press conference with a list of the top questions and ask them in priority, without the president knowing what was going to be asked.  This would allow for an answer to be given honestly, without time to formulate a standard answer.

Media members have used questions from the public in the past, but there is no way of knowing how many questions they received and had to choose from.  They may have only asked a few people and still selected the questions that meet their own criteria.

One would think that the President and other government officials would love this idea because of their commitment during their campaigns that they wanted to be more involved in the public and know what the citizens of the country wanted from the elected officials.

Application to the lesson topic:

In a press conference the politicians have always had the benefit of knowing what the questions were before they were asked.  This new idea of generating questions will hold he politicians more accountable to he public.  They will have to be more informed on all subjects so they will be able to answer any question asked.  The media will also be more involved with the community they live in,  they will be interacting daily with citizens to help formulate questions.

Application to Emergency Services:

Emergency service managers should implement similar ideas when conveying information to the communities the live in.  If they get out and find out what is important to the community then they will be more prepared deliver messages that the public really needs and ad wants to hear about.  To many times leaders have their own agenda instead serving the public they work for.

Reading Summary 8

Reading Summary 8: Managing the Message

Jeff Neal

Reference: Lynn Hightower, Lynn; Communications Director, Boise Police Department, Boise, Idaho; Managing the Message; Police Chief Magazine; The Police Chief, val. 74, no. 12; http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1344&issue_id=122007

Theme: Often well trained police chiefs and PIO's interview with the media and think they delivered a good report that reflects well on the department, only to be surprised when the report given by the media is not what they expected and makes the department look bad to the public. This is why the message must be managed.

Summary: The message given by law enforcement or any emergency services department is important and it is important for the right message to be delivered.  It is the responsibility of the of the PIO or Chief giving the message to take manage the message and make sure there is no doubt what is being said and what the agency believes.

To assure that the correct message is delivered the following Principles should be followed:

-          Empathy and caring – The citizens must know that the officials Care.

-          Competence and expertise – The agency must be well trained and equipped and demonstrate they expertise in the message.

-          Honesty and openness – Tell the truth.

-          Commitment and dedication – Be committed and dedicated to doing a good job, prepare and don't try and wing it.

Reach out to the public; know the issues of the community you are addressing.  Thy and say thing that they what to hear about.  For example review what the department is doing to prevent crimes.

Rehearse what you are going to say.  Write down a few bullet points and refer to them during the interview to be sure you covered the vital information.

Repeat the message at often as possible during the interview to be sure there is no doubt what he important part of the message is.  If the message is only given once then it could be missed.

Many chiefs complain that the reporter didn't ask the right questions.  It's not the reporter's responsibility to get the message out; it's the Chief or PIO's.  When asked a question be detailed and deliver the message, don't wait for the right question because the right question may not be asked.

Application to the lesson topic: I used some of the ideas presented in this article in preparing and recording my 5 minute video.  I made bullet point and a cheat sheet that I could refer to in the event I got stumped and need to be reminded what my message was. 

Application to emergency services: Often we avoid being in front of the camera when asked to be interviewed.  This fear most of us have is because we are afraid of embarrassing ourselves.  If we take the time to practice and develop good communication and interview skills then our fears will go away.  We will be more relaxed and be able to give the message we are intending to give.

Reading summary 5

Reading Summary 5

Jeff Neal

IS-702.A: National Incident Management System (NIMS) Public Information Systems

Theme: The Public Information Officer (PIO) is the face of the department during an event, and whatever message is given will dictate how the public will perceive the department.

Summary: Preparation: This is the most important part to achieve a good outcome.  The PIO needs to train for what needs to be done long before it happens.  Developing skill set and strong knowledge of the department and community will allow the PIO to have confidence under pressure.  If he first time you are in front of the camera is when a disaster happens you will probably look like a fool.  The PIO needs to be familiar with his equipment and be sure the equipment checks and training with equipment is done on a regular basis.  Another critical part of the preparation process is to develop a good relationship with local media members, and other PIO's from outside agencies.  THE PIO could work with the fire prevention division of their department to build community awareness. If you have a good relationship with all members of the media and the community then working with them during an actual event will be easy.

Response:  During this phase of the incident it is important to respond to the scene as fast as possible.  Collecting the important information needs to be a priority.  Once the information is collected it must be verified.  The information must be true and informative.  The PIO only has one chance to get the right information out.  Once the information is released it cannot be taken back.  Now choosing the best methods to disseminate the information becomes the priority.  Depending on the audience you are trying to reach will determine which media source is appropriate.  In most case all media will have interest in receiving the information.  The media, community and other PIO's will be waiting and time is of the essence. 

Recovery: Following a disaster or incident the PIO must continue to gather information that will help the community recover.  Those in the community that were affected will need to know where to go for help. They may be in need of food, medical assistance and shelter.  This information needs to be disseminated to the public.  A PIO should be available on the phone in the JIC hotline with all information related to the recovery process for both the public and the media.  The media can help with getting the information out to the public. 

The importance of the PIO can be since even in non-emergency events.  Following Hurricane Katrina hundreds of Katrina victims were sent to Utah.  This created a major media event, media members from around the country showed up in Utah to get the story.  The emergency managers in charge of the event set up a JIC to gather, verify and deliver all of the information to the media members.   A PIO could be needed on any event that may involve the media.  Sometimes it difficult to know what events will be media worthy until it's too late.  This is why a PIO must respond to all fires and incidents that may be of interest to the community or department.   Every Fire I responded to had multiple media member arrive to the scene.   The last call I responded to prior to retiring occurred on I-80 and about 5600 west.  Two cows wandered out onto the highway and were hit by a car, traveling about 80 MPH, with three men on their way back from Wendover at 3am.  It looked like a bomb went off, the cows exploded upon impact.  While extricating the men from the vehicle it was difficult to breath due to the strong smell from the guts of the cows.  Airmed said that they could smell the bad smell from the air before they landed.  When the last patient was loaded we finally realized that the media was there filming the incident.  I was relieved that my crew had maintained their professionalism in a situation that may have made some act differently.  You never know when the media will arrive; having a PIO on the scene allows the Incident commander to focus on the incident and not on media members.   

Blaming Victims and Survivors: An Analysis of Post-Katrina Print News Coverage

Blaming Victims and Survivors: An Analysis of Post-Katrina Print News Coverage

Justin E. Ross

Reference: Davis, M., & French, T. (2008). Blaming Victims and Survivors: An Analysis of Post-Katrina Print News Coverage. Southern Communication Journal, 73(3), 243-257. doi:10.1080/10417940802219736

Theme: Ways in which the media can skew the views of the general public and the ethical implications there of.

Summary:

• Media outlets clearly used survivor and victim without any real regard for how those two words have different connotations

• The weight of the media is heaviest following a disaster.  Few people recogonize the impact that the media has on the public's perception of what actually happened during the event.

• Many times reporters try to assign fault to a certain population or group, when there is actually no way that the fault can be assigned wholly.

• Media outlets commonly associate the names natural disaster to an event, when the failures were actually because of a technological issue that failed during a disaster.

• Rhetorical language is used in disasters and can create a feeling of the victims or survivors being guilty of something and therefore are at fault for their condition or situation.  

• When a reporter writes a story with the assumption that people understand the conditions on the ground before and after the event they run the risk of creating negative images of the community and the people that are not accurate.

Application to the lesson topic:

When examining the media's coverage of disasters it is important to understand that there is a certain degree of bias in the language that they are using, even if it is not conscience. 

Application to emergency services:

Emergency management professionals need to be aware of the fact that the media is not infallible, and that even when they try very hard to be unbiased it is hard to do.  We must also know when the writing of the media is unethical and make sure that we do what we can to address those issues, early and often.

 

Justin E. Ross
j_elliotte@yahoo.com
360 609-2839

reading summary #12

Here's #12 again 

On Thursday, December 5, 2013 8:49 PM, Mike Wayman <mwayman78@yahoo.com> wrote:

Reference:

Coles, J. B., Zhuang, J., & Yates, J. (2012). Case study in disaster relief: A descriptive analysis of agency partnerships in the aftermath of the January 12th, 2010 Haitian earthquake. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 46(1), 67-77. doi:10.1016/j.seps.2011.08.002

Theme: By working together, agencies that respond to disasters can make a real difference in the country affected.

Summary:

• A case study after the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake in Hati
• A summary of the disaster relief efforts by 18 different relief agencies
• Paper reviews the formation and maintenance of partnerships after the earthquake
• The paper talks about the cooperation and understanding that were the result of the agencies responding to the call for help
•  Findings from the agencies interviewed found that the agencies that had no partnerships or presence in Haiti prior to the earthquake were the ones who built new clinics, orphanages, and schools.
• Agencies were more likely to develop some new partnerships because of new contacts rather than old, non active contacts.
• This paper discovered the partnerships between local and international agencies, was less stable than partnerships between international agencies
•  This paper wanted to increase understanding of the research and how it could be applied in disaster relief networks.
• This paper wanted to provide a new perspective into how agencies work together.

Application to the lesson topic: After a significant disaster, it is important to evaluate how emergency responses responded and acted. After the analysis, things may be put into place to help in the next disaster.

Application to emergency services: These studies may help emergency personnel in other parts of the world lean what works and doesn't in an emergency situation. These studies may help emergency personnel save lives. 

Reading summary #11

Here's #11 again

On Wednesday, November 20, 2013 4:12 PM, Mike Wayman <mwayman78@yahoo.com> wrote:

Reference: Valvi, A. C., & Fragkos, K. C. (2013). Crisis communication strategies: a case of British Petroleum. Industrial & Commercial Training, 45(7), 383-391. doi:10.1108/ICT-04-2013-0026

Theme: With an oil spill in 2010 BP failed in it's communication during the crisis.

Summary:

• British Petroleum (BP) came face to face with a crisis on 20 April 2010 when an explosion in the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig caused a huge oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico.
• The case study attempts to describe BP's serious communication mistakes managing a serious hit to BP's reputation.
• The case study attempts to provide a detailed outline of BP's communication failures by conducting in-depth investigation of newspapers, audiovisual material, social network sites.
• BP's crisis communication was a weak link in its crisis management strategy.
• Public Relations (PR) mistakes were made by BP and shouldn't be avoided in a crisis of their organization. They should select strategies that point out their organization's strengths and correct its weaknesses in order to take advantage of opportunities and counter external threats.
• This study could be valuable in communication, since BP's PR strategies during this oil spill have not been studied before this incident, now they have and suggestions have been made
• The communications solutions BP took during the crisis were examined and certain strategies BP should have followed in order to avoid its failed PR plan are outlined in the article.
• The suggestions can help both PIO's and researchers to learn from BP's mistakes and give more attention to communication strategies, which are critical to all crises.

Application to lesson topic: Good crisis communication is vital in any situation

Application to emergency management: In an emergency good crisis communication is vital. That is how information is passed onto the public. When crisis communication doesn't go well, there's enormous consequences.

Reading Summary #9 from Mike Wayman

Here's #9 again

On Saturday, November 9, 2013 5:03 PM, Mike Wayman <mwayman78@yahoo.com> wrote:

Reference

Adam, N., Shafiq, B., & Staffin, R. (2012). Spatial Computing and Social Media in the Context of Disaster Management. IEEE Intelligent Systems,27(6), 90-96

Theme: The use of social media and apps have made a huge impact on how information is delivered. Using these resources have made reports of a disaster in real time the norm. The use of social media can help those making decisions about the emergency easier and quicker.

Summary:

• The growing trend of using smart phones and other GPS-enabled devices has provided new opportunities for developing apps and technologies in new ways.
• One promising application area for this is social media and its application to disaster management.
• Real-time incident information collected from people on the ground about the extent of damage, how the disaster unfolded, the community's needs, and responders' ability to deal with the situation, combined with information from the larger emergency management community, could lead to more accurate and real-time awareness.
• Social media helps make informed decisions, better resource distribution and a better response and outcome to the disaster.
• The US Department of Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate (DHS-S&T) has initiated the Social Media Alert and Response to Threats to Citizens" (SMART-C) program, which aims to develop a citizen participation with the capability for decision making throughout the disaster via a multitude of devices and social media sites.

Application to the lesson topic: Social media is becoming common place way for people all over to communicate and stay in touch, especially when a disaster strikes.

Application to Emergency Services: The use of social media has proven to be invaluable when it comes to a disaster. Getting information out to family and friends of those affected is almost instantaneous with the use of sites such as Twitter. Social media also helps those on the ground during a disaster call out for help.  

reading summary #10

Here's my #10 again 

On Thursday, November 14, 2013 9:16 AM, Mike Wayman <mwayman78@yahoo.com> wrote:

Reference:

O'Brien, T. (2004). Renovating "This Old Press Conference". Public Relations Tactics, 11(12), 15.

Theme: Only hold a press conference when the story is likely to generate a good deal of media interest. Hold the press conference as a convenience for both the client and media.

Summary:

• Don't call it a press conference – Call it a press briefing, or reception or media tour
• Don't conduct your event in a traditional corporate setting – Have the conference in the public or at the setting of the story
• Manage expectations – Sometimes a press conference is set up before the IPO is notified. As the IPO work to make sure the press conference is successful and informative.
• Think visually – Consider dress of those involved and how the setting of the press conference will look. These will impact how the information is received.
• Never guarantee coverage – Don't make promises to any reporter for additional or 'inside' coverage.
• When all else fails, keep your head up-Understanding that you can't control the media will make it slightly easier to maintain your cool when unexpected challenges present themselves in the final minutes before your event

Application to the lesson topic: A press conference can go very good or very bad, preparation and being educated about the press conference topic by the IPO makes all the difference.

Application to Emergency Services: A press conference dealing with any emergency service needs to be thought out and well prepared for. Thinking through some of these suggestions helps insure a successful, informative press conference.

Tsunami Coverage: What was Missing

Tsunami Coverage:  What was Missing

Justin E. Ross

Reference: Tsunami Coverage. (2005). Nieman Reports, 59(1), 64.

Theme: The different ways in which media outlets covered the 2004 tsunamis.

Summary:

• Some areas that were effected by tsunamis had never been visited by reporters before

• There was a lack of cultural sensitivity on behalf of the media outlets and the reporters responding to the incident.

•  This information was informed by conversations between reporters and psychologist.

• In some countries there was a reluctance on behalf of the local media outlets to report on the devastation, for political reasons.

• Some reporters did an effective job by picking a few individuals and creating a long term "narrative" to accompany their story.

• Some stories led readers to believe that the people of the affected community had nothing to start with, but they were actually well off by their cultures standards.
  

Application to the lesson topic:

The media needs to pay attention to facts on the ground when writing a story about a disaster, but more importantly they need to look at the story from a lens other than their own.  That is to say they need to think about the cultural norms of the community in which they are reporting.

Application to emergency services:

As a PIO I could help guide media outlets towards stories that actually represent the situation on the ground.

 

Justin E. Ross
j_elliotte@yahoo.com
360 609-2839