Reading 12 Comments

Comments for Week 12 Reading Summaries

Mass Fatality Management following the South Asian Tsunami Disaster

This article illustrates some horrible sobering facts about the Tsunami.  We always here the number of casualties but then we fail to comprehend how much work needs to be done to clean up the bodies.

 

Early psychological intervention following a natural disaster: A case study with a victim buried under rubble for 124 hours

What a tremendous story of survival.  I think this article really helps us to understand the importance of the psychological damage that needs to be addressed.  We can spend so much of our focus on making sure everyone is physically rescued that we assume everything will be okay once they are safe.  But really the work has only begun as some people will require a lifetime of counseling to cope with what has happened.

 

Media Training: A 5 Step Process To Drive Message Development and Interview Preparation

Reading Summary 8

Rob Letterman

Reference

Wetherhead, D. (2012, September 17). Media Training: A 5 Step Process To Drive Message Development and Interview Preparation. Retrieved from Comprehension: http://comprehension.prsa.org/?p=5048

Theme

               Public relations professionals need to hone successful communication skills outlined by the five steps.

Summary

·        This article outlines 5 steps to communicating an effective message.

·        Setting an agenda is the first step.  Identifying the objectives of the message your agency or company is trying to accomplish.

·        "Your conclusions should be reflected in key messages, supporting information, Q&A responses and a pre-planned closing statement" (Wetherhead, 2012).

·        Crafting key messages and the repeated use of them is important when trying to communicate an effective message.

·        "Develop three key messages to serve as the foundation for all communications and to weave into each interview" (Wetherhead, 2012).

·        It's important to describe your product or service and focus on the benefits to the target audience.

·        Proving your points is the third step in the process.  We must introduce and reinforce key messages.

·        We must be prepared for potential questions during the interview process.  After we list potential questions "…you can arm yourself with key message-laden responses and seek needed data or counsel in advance of the interview" (Wetherhead, 2012).

·        Making lasting impressions is the final step.  Most people will remember the first and last things you say, so it's important to make them meaningful.

Application

               Although this article came from the perspective of public relations professionals and their techniques and strategies we can learn and apply the proven successes to my own future work situation.  The steps that Debbie outlined are extremely beneficial to the work of a PIO.

Tweeting the Press Release

Joseph Galbraith

Lesson 7 Reading Summary

Reference:

 Roach, T. J. (2012). Tweeting the Press Release. Rock Products, 115(1), 32.

Theme: The use of press releases can be a valuable tool used by businesses and other organizations.  Due to the advent of Twitter the conventional news media is not depended on as much to share the information.

Summary:

• Twitter allows agencies to type the headlined and key words of the press release and then a link can be added as well.

• Organizations do not have to wait for news agencies to pick the story up before the information can be shared.

• Twitter allows organizations to share information about other activities and events to allow followers to get to know them better.

• An ideal situation would be to have a news outlet report on the press release and then post a link on Twitter. 

• Many Twitter users will get the message as a primary means of communication.  These users can then share the information with others to that may not have Twitter access.

• Newspapers and other journalistic outlets provide credibility to a story and should be sought out to share the press release when possible.

 

Application to the lesson topic:

This lesson has been about writing and publishing press releases in order to get a message to the public.  Twitter is rapidly becoming more and more useful for citizens, and emergency personnel.  Press Releases using Twitter allow that information to get distributed as fast as the emergency organization would like it to.

Application to emergency services:

Proper and timely is the goal of emergency information when sending a message.  Twitter allows the agency to send the information on their timetable.  Emergency managers should be well aware of this system.

Role of Mass Media in the Disaster Preparedness and Sustainable Development Society

Reading Summary 6

Rob Letterman

Reference

Seid-Aliyeva, D. E. (2006). Role of Mass Media in the Disaster Preparedness and Sustainable Development Society. AIP Conference Proceedings.

Theme

               The ability of a population to prepare and recover from natural disasters relies on the effective communication skills of the mass media.

Summary

·        Despite the assumption that the United States was one of the more prepared countries when it comes to natural disasters, Hurricane Katrina illustrated the importance of vigilant disaster preparedness.

·        Population growth and the accompanying encroachment to areas prone to natural disasters has increased the necessity to become prepared.

·        The mass media have responsibility to educate cultures who are living in at risk areas for natural disasters.

·        The media needs to check the facts of the disaster thoroughly for accuracy to avoid disseminating false information.

·        In response to an earthquake in Azerbaijan, "The mass media activity should be directed to the increase of the public awareness on risk due to natural hazards and should promote disaster management" (Seid-Aliyeva, 2006).

·        There were very few educational materials available from the mass media regarding the threat of earthquake.

·        Following the earthquake in the Caspian Sea many media outlets stopped translating as the public needed critical information regarding the incident.

Application

As PIO or someone responsible for communicating preparedness and recovery to natural disaster we must be prepared for any kind of natural disaster to our communities.  As someone who plans to work in private sector emergency management I must be able to identify the threats and how to recover so that my company can continue business, which will assist the community as a whole in recovery.

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.