Lesson 5 - Disaster Communication on the Internet - Michael Newland

 Reference: Tanner, A., Friedman, D., Koskan, A., & Barr, D. (2009). Disaster Communication on the Internet: A Focus on Mobilizing Information. Journal of Health Communication; Vol. 14 Issue 8, Pg 741-755.

Theme: During a disaster the public needs up to date accurate information. One of the best ways to get information out to the masses is the internet. The internet is a powerful tool for Public Information Officers.

Summary: Michael Newland

·         Natural and man-made disasters are constantly a threat to everyone.

·         These disasters require emergency preparedness and emergency response information.

·         In the event of a disaster, the public seeks crisis management information. The Public Information Officer plays a large role in getting this information out.

·         In an effort to keep up with the demand for information emergency agencies and the media have turned to the internet.

·         Although television is still a relevant source of information the internet is better because you can immediately get the info that you need without having to wait for a reporter to say it. In the event of an emergency, one advantage of the Internet is the ability to post updated information just as quickly if not more quickly than television and radio news.

·         It is up to the Public Information Officer to quickly gather pertinent information and get it out to the public. What better way to do this than the use of the internet?

Application to the Lesson Topic:

      Public information officers are very important during a disaster situation. Their job is to communicate with the public and provide the media with information to give out to the public. The internet is a powerful tool for Public Information Officers.

Application to Emergency Services:

      A disaster can be a very chaotic situation. People will be terrified for their loved ones and demand information. Anything that a PIO can do to get information out to the public will help emergency responders to do their job.

      

The Evolving PIO - Reading Summary 5 - Ashley Burningham

 

Reference:

Wilmoth, J. (2013). Put the PIO Back in the Public, Fire Chief, 57(6), 6.

Theme:

With the decline in fire calls, the role of the PIO has been expanded to include community outreach and external affairs.

Summary:

·         - Less than 5% of community members will call 911 in their lifetime.

        - Role of PIO has been evolving quietly.

·         - Generally, PIO is a liaison between an incident commander and the media.

·         - They provided information updates on cases.

·         - Number of fire calls has declined.

·         - Agencies are beginning to expand PIO roles to community outreach or external affairs.

·         - "Earlier this year, the International Association of Fire Chiefs' Fire Service Image Task Force issued the report "Taking Responsibility for a Positive Public Perception" in response to increasing scrutiny and public perception."

·        - Problem is perception, not trust.

·         - Fire chief is ultimately responsible for public perception.

·         - Role delegated to PIOs.

·        - PIOs are used to increase public perception of an organization.

·        - PIOs are used to establish relationships with local media and community.

·        - PIOs connect with other PIOs for ideas.

·        - Used to raise awareness of services provided.

·        - PIOs promoting an image.

·        - Fire calls will continue to decline.

·        - Community will support agencies that support them.

Application to Lesson:

This week's lesson talked about the role of the PIO. This article discusses the evolving role of the PIO in today's society, and discusses how their job has been stretched to involve new components.

Application to Career:

Public Information Officers are a crucial component to law enforcement. They are in charge with relaying information to the public. Whether this information is about a crime, officer safety, resources, etc., the PIO is responsible for coordinating these efforts.

5 - Problems and Recommendations for Media Communication - Andrea Graff

Reference: Lowrey, W., Evans, W. (2007). Effective media communication of disasters: pressing problems and recommendations. BMC Public Health.

Theme: Problems and recommendations for media communication

Summary:

Natural and man-made disasters have been increasing over the last decades and journalists and media personnel have a crucial role in covering these events. Public information officers (PIO) and media need to work together to make sure accurate and timely information gets to the public. Following are challenges and solutions faced:

• Public health's expanding role in preparedness: It wasn't until Sept. 11 that public health began to be integrated into the disaster response efforts. Their role in collaborating with the media is to get information on personal protective actions to the public during times of emergency.

• Professional and organizational realities: Public health agencies have been faulted for not "preparing in advance information useful in emergencies and for ineffective dissemination of information". PIO's are the go-between, they have to put out information that will be understood and is communicated accurately. "PIOs are also constrained by legal requirements designed to protect citizen privacy".

• Journalism advisors have several complaints about PIOs. They say PIOs err on the side of withholding access to information and experts, sometimes they lack the authority to provide access to information, and they too often perform poorly on camera and in interviews.

• Both journalists and PIOs worry about their ability to get information to the public when it is something they should be worried or concerned about. They both believe it is necessary to build close relationships with one another to respond effectively to health-related emergencies.

Application to the lesson topic: Media and PIOs have been and will probably continue to be a big issue in the sense of getting along and trusting one another. Realizing this and coming up with solutions to overcome the struggles they face and learning to trust each other will go a long way in getting timely accurate information out to the public.

Application to emergency services:  Making sure our PIOs have the most accurate information to give to the public will help in the relationship between the PIO and media personnel. That way, the media won't feel the need to go straight to the source to get information, but will trust in what the PIO has to say.

5- Public Relations' Influence on the News - James Delli Gatti

Reference: Turk, Judy VanSlyke (1986). Public Relations' Influence on the News. Newspaper Research Journal. 7(4), 15-27.

By: James Delli Gatti

Theme:

The sharing of information with the media has a high level of influence to the news reported by journalists.

Summary:

·         This article summarizes a study to examine how much influence the PIO has on daily newspaper content through the information they provide to journalists.

·         The world presented to the public is a reflection of the medias own construction of reality and not a mirror of reality.

·         The sources of information (i.e. PIOs and government information officials) and the interaction between source and journalist have as much to do with the media's selection process for information presentation as does the journalists values and the media agenda.

·         About half of the information provided by PIOs was used in subsequent stories.

·         The topics identified by PIOs as significant were the same topics given significance in media coverage.

Application to the lesson topic:

Sources do have influence on the medias construction of reality. Journalists were heavily influenced by information from PIO sources. There are multiple influences on the medial agenda.

Application to Emergency Services:

The role of PIO and journalist influence the information communicated to the public. The information that the incident commander wants and needs conveyed to the public regarding specific emergency situations is relayed through the PIO to the media creating a reflection of the scenario. Information presented by the PIO is often seen as more factual and reliable than other sources.

Reading Comments 4 - Robert Letterman

Robert Letterman

Disaster Communication using Social Media

Social media is such an ever changing and evolving thing.  Its sometimes hard to keep up.  These days most of us can't even go part of the day without our cell phone.  But now that our phones can be turned into mass communication devices the importance of keeping up with technology for those of us in disaster response is even more important.

Ready for Disaster

I suppose that most communities and people think that what they see on TV won't happen to them.  It's interesting that every major crisis that happens serves as a wakeup call for the community or area affected.  But when will the rest of us allow these incidents to serve as a wakeup call for us?  It's important to identify the highest areas of risk that we can predict in our own geographical areas.

4- Communication Gaps in Disaster Management - Robert Letterman

Robert Letterman

Reference

Paltalla, P., Boano, C., Lund, R., & Vos, M. (2012). Communication Gaps in Disaster Management: Perceptions by Experts from Govermental and Non-Governmental Organizations. Journal of Contingenicies and Crisis Management, 2-12.

Theme

               Communicating during a disaster is always difficult.  This article analyzes the gaps in communications that occur and how to best  enhance communication during a crisis.

Summary

Crisis management and response is gaining interest in the public and private sector.

Much has been researched and developed in the field of crisis management as it pertains to public relations and image restoration.

The basis of crisis communications is to provide the public with information regarding the disaster.  Crisis communication really began in the field of public relations

The method used by the article is to take a more general approach to researching these gaps and not focus on specific singular incidents.

An online questionnaire was set up to collect information and data to determine the nature and frequency of communication gaps.

One of the issues that comes up during crisis communications is the blame game that occurs between public information officers and the media.

The media will often concern themselves with assigning blame to government agencies and responders.

Despite the fact that communications plans are in place but results from the questionnaire indicated that more practice and development in the field needs to happen.

Application to Lesson

Sometimes we can become too consumed with how we respond to disasters and incidents but we must not let ourselves forget the planning of communication that needs to be developed.

Application to Future Work

This article explains the importance of communication planning not just in the public sector but the private sector as well.  As someone who plans to work in emergency management in the private sector establishing and understanding how communication will be executed during a crisis will be beneficial.

4 - Disaster Communication using Social Media - Ashley Burningham

Ashley Burningham

Reference: Preston, J., Stelter, B. (2012, date). In Crisis, Public Officials Embrace Social Media. New York Times.

Theme:

Social media is a powerful and necessary tool in disaster communication.

Summary:
- Hurricane Sandy prompts officials to embrace social media.
-Governor's Twitter feed proves this: 400 messages on Tuesday, 300 on Wednesday, and well over 100 on Thursday.
- Governor responding to messages, he believes social media is highly effective.
- Governor's followers increased from 20,000 to 50,000
- Phone service has been spotty
- People were reliant on texting and social media more than previously.
- Officials embraced social media to spread the word.
- Still participate in press conferences, but simultaneously post to social media.
- Serves as a round the clock press conference.
- Before the storm, they used Pinterest to generate ideas for preparing for disasters.
- "Social media is an integral part of an emergency communication plan."
- Many people don't have access to a television or radio, but most have internet access.
- Power outage prevents use of tv or radio.
- Social media allows information to come straight from the source.

Application to the Lesson:

This weeks lesson was on disaster communication and planning. With this day in age, it has become more apparent that social media is taking over the process of a lot of things. It has become a new tool utilized by officials in getting information out. Because disaster communication involves social media, it is applicable to the lesson this week.

Application to Emergency Services:

In emergency services, the Public Information Officer is in charge of distributing information to the media and public. Because social media is so prevalent today, law enforcement agencies need to take advantage of it.