John Scardena Week 12 Tsunami Graves

 

Reference:  Morgan, O. W.(2006). "Mass Fatality Management following the South Asian Tsunami Disaster. Retrieved online December 10, 2013 from: Academic Search Premier

 

Theme:  Mass Casualty: taking care of the dead

 

Summary: 

·      The Tsunami that rocked Indonesia caused the death toll that rose quickly and beyond the thousands.

·      This terrible scenario caused many bodies to decompose before survivors could properly identify most of them.  

·      24–48 hours was the timeframe of identifying bodies.

·      This obviously created a situation where friends and family could not identify many bodies.

·       The largest mass grave site contained nearly 70,000 deceased persons.

·      We try to learn from the past and this example we learned a lot.

·      If we cannot preserve the bodies in refrigerators we can dig holes to keep the bodies there temporarily.

·      If you do have to use a mass grave site, only bury in one layer as to keep the smell minimal.

 

Application for lesson: 

If Homeland Security is all about keeping disasters from happening long term, certainly crisis managers can prepare for major natural disasters and learn from the experiences that have already come to pass.

 

Application for Career:

This is a terrible, awful scene and I hope that no one has to deal with it, but that being said… we should prepare for these experiences as they are bound to happen in a ever shifting world. 

John Scardena Week 11 Disaster Comms

Reference:

Crutchfield, N. (2010). "Risk & Crisis Communication. Professional Safety. Reviewed December 10, 2013

 

Theme:

The effectiveness of safety protocols can be determined by how well we analyze social networking and other communicational needs.

 

Summary:

·      An in-depth look into how the communication world… communicates and understanding it's specific language can help keep us up to date.

·      Looking into how we communicate allows for real time changes.

·      Social networking is a great source as it has a comprehensive view of all communication networks.

·      Once we fully understand and are up to date on these changes we need to create a plan that allows us to move forward.

 

Application to lesson:

Week 11 was all about communication during a crisis. The language we use and how we use it is extremely important to saving lives. Knowing acronyms for example helps clear confusion.

 

Application to career:

Throughout the humanitarian aid world there are so many different lingos that are used by different agencies. For example the Red Cross uses DAT teams and GAP teams for different types of disaster, thus it is logical to assume that in order to work well with them we must learn their language. 

John Scardena Week 10 Press Prep

 

Reference:

O'Brien, T. (2004). Renovating "This Old Press Conference". Public Relations Tactics. Reviewed December 10^th 2013

 

Theme:

The Press can get really anxious when hearing repeating information. It is up to a PIO to come up with different ideas so that new leads can trend.

 

Summary:

·      Public Relations is a revolving door between what to do and what not to do.

·      Be early not late.

·      Sometimes crazy things can happen which pulls the media away from your conference

·      Timing is everything with the Press.

·      Be interesting and creative to keep their attention

·      The Press is an untamed animal, so don't try to domesticate it.

·      Cover all your bases and make friends. 

 

Application to lesson:

As we are learning about Press Conferences this week, this article fits in directly about the good, bad, and ugly of setting up a press conference. We need to be aware of our surroundings and our audience so that we can effectively move the story forward

 

Application to career:

I think I explained this in the application section but nonetheless, as PIO's we need to keep on our toes new ideas and clever paths to letting the Press learn about the stories we feel are important. 

John Scardena Week 9 Disaster's Media

Reference:

Kutscher, B. (2012). "A storm of rumors: social media can help counter false reports: experts." Modern Healthcare. Reviewed December 10, 2013

 

Theme:

Social media can help counter false reports.

 

Summary:

·      Sandy proved to be a Hurricane of rumors. For example the NYSE flooded, hospitals were burning down, ect. )

·      The range of rumors came from misinformation to a controlled idea.

·      Social media such as Twitter can eliminate rumors almost as soon as they start.

·      Hospitals and other emergency services used Twitter during Sandy to keep everyone on their feet.

 

Application to lesson:

The lesson for the week focused on media response in a disaster. The short article that was presented represents a realistic view of the Sandy Storm but also a general view of what most major incidents cause. Rumors flood the system of information and panic can occur. It is up to the media and the PIO's to get rid of these rumors so that society can remain calm and on it's A game.

 

Application to career:

In terms of a career aspect, this scenario is pretty straight forward, put out the fires of rumors as soon as you learn about them. Social media has become the most reliable, real-time distinguisher between truth and error. As a PIO we need to always be on top of rumors and push out the information that will save lives, not ruin them.

 

Presidential Press Conferences Over Time

Robert Letterman

Reading Summary 10

Reference

Eshbaugh-Soha, M. (2003). Presidential Press Conferences Over Time. American Journal of Political Science, 348-355.

Theme

               Presidential press conferences are an important vehicle for the President to communicate to the media and the public.  This article examines how press conferences are used by different presidents and attempts to explain the methodology.

Summary

Most presidents begin their press conference like a speech where they define the policies and procedures related to their topic.

Research has shown that some presidents avoid press conferences despite the fact they have so much control over who they allow to ask questions.

Most presidents will strategically avoid certain reporters who they suspect will ask them difficult or controversial questions.

The President's reputation, political climate, and technological advances have all contributed to the decline of press conferences.

Presidential press conferences have declined dramatically since the Truman administration because many presidents will want to avoid the unknown questions that could lead to embarrassment.

Presidents Bush and Clinton used far more press conferences than their predecessors in an effort to control the information the media would disseminate about them.

Bush and Clinton press conferences were statistically significant in the author's study.  Bush used them as part of his public strategy.

Presidential press conferences are more of a function of individual preference than the political environment.

Application

               I thought this was an interesting study and article examining Presidential press conferences.  Often times following a natural or man-caused disaster incident the President will hold a press conference.  I thought the statistics of the study showed President Bush's increased number of press conferences due largely because of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.  He used them as a method to control the type of information and clear up any misinformation.  As a PIO this should be the same line of thinking.