6 - Media catching and media relations - Martin de la Cruz

Media covering Pres. Obama - procommunicator.com

Reference

Waters, R. D., Tindall, N. J., & Morton, T. S. (2010). Media Catching and the Journalist-Public Relations Practitioner Relationship: How Social Media are Changing the Practice of Media Relations. Journal Of Public Relations Research, 22(3), 241-264. doi:10.1080/10627261003799202

Theme

PIOs and other public relations people need to be looking at the social media as a way to reach journalists.

Summary

Rather than waiting for the stories from public relations practitioners journalists are now using social media to get story ideas.

By using technology and social media journalists get public relations practitioners to compete with story ideas. This phenomenon is called media catching.  See more at: http://www.instituteforpr.org/scienceofsocialmedia/media-catching-and-the-journalist-public-relations-practitioner-relationship-how-social-media-are-changing-the-practice-of-media-relations/#sthash.hdEl4pL7.dpuf

Traditional media are using twitter, but new media outlets have turned to online services like HARO (Help-a-Reporter-Out.com) and LISTSERV technology to get story ideas

Application to the lesson

Media relations is the idea of cultivating a relationship with journalists and editors before an emergency.  This is crucial in developing an understanding of the role and needs of the media. When technology takes over, like with media catching, it becomes more difficult to develop relations with journalists, because as a PIO you may never see them.  Thus, it becomes even more important as a PIO to reach out and meet journalists.

Application to emergency services

In order to garner positive media attention, it is necessary to actively engage journalists instead of waiting for the journalists to cover you on their own. 

John Stewart blasts CNN coverage of Washington shootings

Click here to see the clip from Jon Stewart. And look here to see what is headline news in the LA Times.

Thanks John Scardena for bringing this to our attention.

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6 - Clearing the Air - Sylvia C Kearney

Reference: Veil, S. R. (2012). Clearing the Air: Journalists and Emergency Managers Discuss Disaster Response. Journal Of Applied Communication Research, 40(3), 289-306. doi:10.1080/00909882.2012.679672

Theme: A Way To Improve the Public Information Officer Relationship and Journalist

Summary: How Do We Abate the Differences of Discourse between PIO’s and the Media?

There seem to be communication challenges between Public Information Officers and Journalists. We are often told on many occasions to find our media contacts and befriend them. Communication issues do arise on occasions, but can they affect the relationship between the two entities, PIO and Media?  

1)    Lack of Trust – When a disaster occurs, “a sense of threat, urgency, and destruction, often on a monumental scale, “ arises. (Seeger, Sellnow, & Ulmer, 2003, p. 4) During that time of communicating the information to,  “protect health, safety, and the environment,” (Veil, S. R. 2012) is vital. If there are holes in the information that the public receives, uncertainty begins to dwell. The public will try and fill these holes and anxiety rises and misinformation will spread.

2)    Paradoxical Challenges – There is a sense within the PIO that Journalists only want to sensationalize the disaster and stir up panic to get their viewers to tune into their organization. Journalists on the other hand, feel that PIO’s hold back a lot of information and even, “obstruct rather than facilitate the flow of information to the public.” (Veil, S. R. 2012) It is said that PIO’s will not allow for all information to come out protecting the community from public panic. Berkowitz (2009) states, “‘‘Journalists end up in a role of protecting society from corruption, while officials . . . take on the task of protecting their own interests at all costs’’ (p. 102).

3)    Inhibited Collaboration – Sometimes information is not shared between the two PIO and Media organizations.

Application: Lack of trust limits effective communication. PIO’s understand that most journalists have not been trained in covering emergencies. Collaboration has been the most pivotal point by far, to get both, the PIO and the media to the table. Research has proven that, “ . . . to advise emergency managers, to engage the media, through open and honest communication, and use the media as a strategic resource to aid in managing the crisis’’ (Seeger, 2006, p. 241)

Application in EMS: It is important for the PIO to achieve a favorable relationship with the media by understanding how journalists work. It is also important to develop a close relationship with the Journalists (media), and offer them information of disaster that fits into their story frame. On the other hand, Journalists should not walk up to a police officer or firefighter to get closer to the scene, but seek out the PIO and communicate with him to get a better view of the disaster. Maybe we could give journalists some classes, i.e. don’t come to a wildfire with flip-flops on, and maybe we can learn from journalists how to speak and behave in front of the camera. The old adage, “I scratch your back you scratch mine,” has worked for me in many situations, especially in places where I did not know anyone.

5 - Managing Uncertainty in a Pandemic - Sylvia C Kearney

REFERENCE: Johnson Avery, E., & Kim, S. (2008). Preparing for Pandemic While Managing Uncertainty: An Analysis of the Construction of Fear and Uncertainty in Press Releases of Major Health Agencies. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1-26.

THEME: Does a Public Information Officer Instill Fear and Anxiety In a Press Release to the Public?

SUMMARY: When SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) broke out in 2003 in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore and Canada, the WHO (World Health Organization) published a global alert. “ . . . Faced with a potential pandemic “for which there were no identified causal agent, no diagnostic laboratory assays, no defined properties or risk factors for transmission, no infection-control practices of proven efficacy, and no known treatment or preventative measures.” (Lingappa, McDonald, Simone, & Parashar, 2004, p. 1) This information is daunting and to tell the entire world can inflict possible chaos.

1)    First of all, the International Health community did not know very much about this outbreak and the public knew even less. “These types of challenges are similar to those currently posed to PIO’s in the midst of preparing for a possible, . . . pandemic.” (Johnson Avery, E., & Kim, S. (2008).

2)    The public insists and deserves timely, accurate information. Matter of fact, in any event, the very first 24hours are crucial in forming public opinion about a disaster. In a hurricane that will hit landfall, it is of vital importance to evacuate those people that may be in the path of the hurricane.

3)    Speed is also of the very essence. There may be no time to filter the information, there may be no time to regard managerial levels, there may just be no time but to, “ . . . assert message features such as clarity, completeness, volume, accuracy, source ethos, ambiguity, applicability, and consistency are key to reducing uncertainty in receivers of health messages.” (Johnson Avery, E., & Kim, S. (2008). When a person is trying to assess and manage messages as they come in and as they need to be broadcasted by a PIO, human behavior dictates that fear, anxiety etc. is difficult to hide.

4)    Short factual up-dates to the public are better and easier to handle, in case a change in a previous update needs to be explained.

5)    In most cases a website for explanation should also be offered to the public so they can inform themselves about the pandemic. This can also help anxiety or fear, since individuals now feel empowered to inform themselves.

APPLICATION: “PIO’s must communicate their own uncertainties, then, in a way, that restores efficacy even in the face of uncertainty by presenting publics with some course of action or at least demonstrate their own efforts taken to reduce the threat.” (Johnson Avery, E., & Kim, S. (2008). There needs to be a positive relationship between uncertainty and fear.

Additional Readings: Lingappa, McDonald, Simone, & Parashar, 2004, p. 1

4 - Communication Disaster Planninng - Sylvia C Kearney

REFERENCE: Furey, B. (2006, 01). Communications disaster planning and recovery: CHANGING PARAMETERS FOR CHANGING TIMES. Firehouse, 31, 64-67. Retrieved on Sept. 27^th, 2013 from: http://search.proquest.com/docview/229630346?accountid=14779

Buckingham, David, (2004) “Young People and Media” Briefing Paper for the United Nations Workshop on Global Media Driven Culture in New York

THEME: Public Safety Communication and Planning During Disaster

SUMMARY: A very interesting and often repeated incident is of course Hurricane Katrina. So much has been written and studies have been done to help train us all. This paper about communication disasters and planning and recovery gives details how to go about preparing for another disaster in step-by-step example.

o   Public Safety infrastructure is often overwhelmed when either a major disaster, or more than one disaster occurs. “As is often the case with transportation emergencies, no singular failure is normally to blame for creating a communications crisis. It often takes multiple concurrent disruptions for a problem to occur.” (Furey, 2006)

o   This is where communication becomes vulnerable. Some communication personnel become very stressed within a short time, especially like with Katrina, where people called for help as they were dying.

o   One of the most important points to prepare for disaster communication is to have a mutual aid plan with outside agencies that includes other resources besides communication.

o   Have a way of transporting them. And by all means, keep your fuel tanks filled at all times or fill them when they are half empty. This would also include generators etc. As someone once said, “It is better to have a half of a loaf of bread than none at all.” (Furey, 2006)

APPLICATION: NIMS (National Incident Management System) explains that you need to use the right resources for communication. If the event is happening now, News is happening now and communication has to be in place. One more issue to take into account, is the, “ . . . cultural imperialism thesis has effectively given way to a much more optimistic account of the global spread of media. Rather than global replacing the local, the two have been seen to merge in a process of ‘glocalisation’. . . .(Robertson, 1994; Featherstone, 1995) Buckingham, D. (2004).

APPLICATION in EMS: Sustainability development (SD) and the combination of the environmental, economic, and social issues are becoming an important subject when it comes to negotiating and planning disaster vulnerabilities including communications. Of course technology is becoming better and better and new plans are being worked on to help EMS and its resources to be able to communicate with each other and the media.