Simulated News ConferenceImagine yourself in the role of city manager, CEO, or spokesperson during a crisis situation. Write a simulated news conference essay that includes the following components:an
MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 1 Cou rse Learning Outcomes for Unit V Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 3. Recommend effective communication plans for implementation in various crisis situations. 3.1 Describe how a spokesperson might prepare for and conduct a news conference about a crisis situation. 6. Describe how to develop an effective relationship with the news media. 6.1 Discuss how to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with media contacts before and during a crisis. Reading Assignment To access the following resources , click the links below: In the following article, Affelt points out how difficult it can be to pursue a conventional, mainstream media journalism effort in a shifting communications environment. Affelt, A. (2016). Investigative journalism and big data. EContent, 39 (7). Retrieved from https://libraryresource s.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://libraryresources.columbia southern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=117785004 &site=ehost -live&scope=site Harro -Loit, Vihalemm . and Ugur describe a frequent truth about people in various regions : C ultural differences count, and they sometimes require a unique crisis communications effort. Harro -Loit, H., Vihalemm, T., & Ugur, K. (2012). Cultural experience as a (critical) factor in crisis co mmunication planning. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 20 (1), 26 –38. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://libraryresources.columbia southern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth& AN=71866121& site=ehost -live&scope=site Marszalek brings up a consequence of today’s rapid travel of news and opinion: Institutions may be sharply stung by reporting in a crisis, and once this happens, it often tend s to close off further communications to journalists, making mainstream media story writing more difficult . Marszalek, D. (2016). Obstruction of journalism. Broadcasting and Cable, 146 (32), 8 –11. Retrieved from https://libraryresource s.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://libraryresources.columbia southern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=118191334 &site=ehost -live&scope=site Palttala and Vos map a strategy for the planning and con duct of crisis communications, showing how efforts before, during, and after a crisis can support an organizational strategic plan. Palttala, P., & Vos, M. (2012). Quality indicators for crisis communication to support emergency management by public authorities. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 20 (1), 39 –51. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https ://libraryresources.columbia southern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=71866117& site=ehost -live&scope=site UNIT V STUDY GUIDE Mainstream Media Communications MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 2 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Smith focuses on conversations with journalists, listing what can work well in interviews and public comm unications . Smith, T. (2014). Media tips, crisis communications and negative press, oh my! Mississippi Business Journal, 36 (8). Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=http://go.galegroup.com.libraryre so urces.columbiasouthern.edu/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=oran95108&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA36 1551087&asid=dadfe3a6c6bfb956c2da3aa8f95ec2ea Unit Lesson This unit looks at mainstream media communications “in times of crisis” to help us better understand the profession of journalism. Certain aspects of journalism that are sometimes thought of as being biased are actually parts of the mechanism of a free press operating in a democracy. Gaining more familiarity with mainstream medi a communications will prepare us to be more efficient and effective crisis communicators. Historical Foundation of Journalism and the Media The history of the mainstream media started with the adoption of the printing press in the 1600s. Before this time , written news would be slower, less efficient, and much more expensive than word -of-mouth. Villagers would listen to a key communicator who was both a link to carriers of the news, such as a pub owner or port official, and who was somewhat of a talented s peaker among neighbors. Travelers were important for the spread of news, as were natural storytellers. There are still some parts of the world where news is disseminated in this fashion (though the pub owner may now have a smartphone). The printing press and follow -on innovations changed the spreading of news and opinions for much of the world. This is a good time to consider the merits of the written works that authors plan, write, and “polish” into final form. Planned written works flow comfortably for a reader; build on ideas through the use of organized, successive paragraphs; and effectively function to persuade as well as inform. Written words carry a certain amount of psychological power. Propaganda, especially, depends on this power to persuade and influence. The potential for power to gain agreement and followers is why details such as illustrations and photos, media design, and even font choices matter in article design. From the 1500s to today, authors, some of whom developed the profession of jou rnalism and became reporters, enjoyed this advantage as the political setting for media evolved from older kingdoms to the democratic republics of today. The media even thrives in the rather complicated and often oppressive democracies of Russia and the Mi ddle East; people want to hear what is interesting and pertinent to their lives, and they want the truth that they may not trust they can get from their governments. As countries, social norms, and cultures have changed, so have the approaches to mainstre am media communications. During the 1800s, much of the journalism in the United States was what we now term as “yellow” or “slanted.” It was common to craft a news article with an agenda —opinions intertwined with the author’s gathered/reported facts. This approach caused little harm when a record snowstorm was described in terms of damages to homes and businesses; however, this approach has also influenced juries by calling suspects scoundrels and other names, swayed voters with favorable or unfavorable can didate coverage, and smeared whole ethnic groups (e.g., referring to Native Americans as “savages”). In part, this approach to some of the reporting in the 1800s and early 1900s reflected societal norms of the era, including how people were categorized and stereotyped by individual or group identification. Such treatment of others is easy to institutionalize and hard to abandon. Despite the aforementioned, journalism has always had value for finding and reporting the facts. It is the foundation of the profession. W hile opinions are advanced and debated, most people want to be informed, and for this, they need the facts. MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 3 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Mainstrea m Media Communications : The Art and the Science There is both art and science to journalism and its mainstream media communications.
The science aspect ce nters on gathering facts and presenting an accurate story.
One would think just gathering the facts would be straightforward, but this is not so. Why is gathering absolute facts and developing an accurate story such a challenge? This aspect of mainstream media communications is easier to appreciate when seen from the journalist’s point of view. The journalist starts with an obligation to follow the publisher’s philosophy and specific assignments allocated, unlike bloggers and online posters to social medi a. Thus, before a journalist figuratively even steps out of the media firm’s door, he or she has the constraints of the publisher’s media slant and the editor’s assessment of his or her experience and competence. A publisher’s world view slant does not mea n that none of the periodical’s published stories contain facts that can be trusted. Slants are usually subtle, but the perspective being championed becomes evident if a reader sufficiently studies the periodical’s editions. A journalist is rarely so fortu nate as to “go out and find a story” with no other guidance and complete freedom of choice. A journalism career is marked by unpaid internships to entry -level paid work with growing levels of responsibility and opportunity based on experience and merit. Of the journalists a spokesperson meets, no two will be alike or have had the same trajectory. Not everything makes a story, which is a thought in the front of every editor’s mind. Sometimes, the trends of what stories are published can be discerned by comp aring a big city newspaper to that of a small, rural town. Different social needs and wants in terms of news will be different. If a city serves as a national capital or a significant global marketplace because it is a port or near farms or mines, then nat ional and global/regional news will be important to readers. In communities where many people know each other, or at least know of each other, society news and local politics are more appreciated and sought. Changes in the times cause shifts in story trend s as well. The way to see this is to compare periodicals covering the same region from 100 years ago, to 50 years ago, to those published today. Even this comparison, though, will show a common thread: People want, and will pay for, news stories based on f acts. Facts are hard items to acquire, but are valuable to journalists once grasped. The answers to the classic questions of who , what , where , how , and why will make the core of a story. Reliable sources are the ones that count, though uncertain ones at least can provide a lead for a journalist to follow. Reliable sources may include government, business, or other institutional sources (e.g., an organization ’s spokespeople), as verified by each other in groups of at least two. Eyewitnesses can also lead to an assertion of an act, time, or place being accepted as a fact. Finding a fact is vital to a journalist. There are ideological opponents who will dispute a story, and in the course of doing so, contest every offered fact. If a detail is later not found to be true, then the journalist’s story starts to unwind and may eventually be discredited . Journalists search for facts as much as detectives search for clu es; indeed, their respective methods and strategies look similar. What, then, is the art aspect of mainstream media communications and journalism? The key to appreciating journalism as an art is recognizing that it is a social phenomenon. If journalism w as explored from solely the scientific aspect, we might assume that the search for facts to report is timeless and not subject to change over the centuries, but that is not true. Societies change over time and appear different with distance due to shifts i n values and contrasts in culture — that specific and complex formula held by a specific group of people on how to live. Communication is a factor of this complexity, and therefore so is the media, even if it took the form of a key leader in a village who ga thered and shared stories centuries ago. We can see changes in mainstream media communications and posit that these are based on journalism being an art as well as a science. The exploration of issues and the framing of history have changed over Pictured are students reading the newspaper . By Hiller is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Hiller, 2014) MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 4 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title time. Opportunities and threats to social groups change, and these changes are reflected as issues on which the media focuses. You may agree that World War II news will likely not be on the newspaper’s front page today, but in 1943, a reader would be surprised not to see it prominently featured. Culture is an important influence on journalism, as well the framing of time and era. Journalis ts will develop stories that are interesting to readers, and often what is interesting is driven by the common culture shared and upheld by these readers. Publishers, editors, and journalists respect cultural influence as we all do in living from day to da y. The influence of culture or cultural blends may be complex, but that is why creating a story in our environment is an art. Communication is global and continuous. In olden days, the dissemination of news depended on the arrival of travelers to the vill age, but for most of the world, that time has passed. Improvements in communications technology have led to continuous fact and opinion sharing; even when the professionals retire for the evening, other information and opinion sharers operate in their resp ective time zones. One can imagine what a journalist, as well as the rest of us, will find has been written and shared once a new day dawns. Media organizations and their journalist members have to think, decide, and act fast regarding a given topic, or th ey will be behind the common discourse. Mainstream media communications operate in a world of communications competitors. Gone are the days when virtually the only positions that counted —or the ones that counted the most — were those of anchor reporters. If a personal computer operator who writes can publish on a website or blog, then the writer is published. This explosion of technology paired with writers seizing the opportunity to share ideas with the public has both increased competition with mainstream media and added complexity to what readers see on media, including the social media they use. Especially clever are memes. Then, there are those web -based articles coming from journals with names mimicking large media organizations. Sometimes, the articles are patently false; at other times, they are subtly slanted to show people of opposing ideologies or world views in an unflattering light. Projected opinions and viewpoints are overwhelming what is offered as facts in terms of volume. What can be defined as propaganda is increasing in online communications. Organizations are resisting journalism more and more. The phenomena noted above help to shape the environment of today’s government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and business institutions.
Journalists have noted that what was once a more common cu lture of cooperation in gathering facts and sharing information between the media and organizations has given way to a growing culture of defensiveness and communications spin . For example, organizational spin may be too light on facts and too heavy on def ending the organizational leaders’ reputations to be useful for stakeholders in a crisis. When did this situation start? The answers can be debated. One idea is that the 1960s in Western society were a time of social upheaval, and values were being reexam ined; it was a time that succeeded the united front that the Western Allies offered during the period of World War II and the war’s aftermath. Part of the social upheaval entailed a popular idea —novel at the time —of rejecting the status of institutions as being beyond question and reproach. Certainly, the synthesis of ideas in the 1960s caused changes in everything, including clothing fashions, manners, global politics, the economy, and literature. Pictur ed is a satellite world news media center . By Woodleywonderworks is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Woodleywonderworks, 2015) MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 5 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Organizational leaders feel less secure than their predece ssors did in the more institutionally secure mid -20th century. Norms about never questioning authority are not necessarily accepted now. Additionally, advances in technology have taken away rather than increased leaders’ stability in their professions. For example, the rise of sharable videos and web -based idea sharing has led many law enforcement organizations to be extremely careful of what information they release to the public and media, but this slows down journalists’ story - developing process. It does not slow down the opinions of the self -publishers, however. It is often posited that our early to mid -20 th century presidents could not slow this process down in the present day of rapidly spreading communications of scandals. Being an Effective Crisis C ommunicator What can a crisis communicator do to act effectively in this current environment of mainstream media communications?
Former journalist Todd Smith (2014) offers the tips below for spokespeople. Assume (some) control of the interview . There is an art to this, involving manners and tact. If a spokesperson allows journalists to set the tone, though, the resulting crisis communications will be on the media’s sole terms. Be alert a nd friendly. Being sleep - deprived and disheveled during a crisis is not a promising approach to public communications. Pause before replying, and let your answers and statements be your best efforts. Have your key messages ready. These are the themes you e mphasize and return to if interviews or questions wander away from your idea of relevance to the crisis. Stay on track, or rapidly get the discourse back on track. Do not repeat a negative phrase. W hy? It legitimizes a journalist’s statement or question a nd helps usher it in as a part of the “facts.” When experiencing negativity in a public communications venue, look for the “bridge” to get your gathering back on the track of your themes. The public speaking is not over until you stop communicating . Somet imes, the most difficult questions to answer come at the end of the interview; therefore, always be prepared. There is no such thing as being off the record. You can ask, but no journalist is obligated to keep your communications a secret or out of a story . Many spokespeople and organizational leaders have fallen from not understanding this. Avoid hiding or ignoring an issue, or delaying . With a crisis communications message, muzzling spokespeople by forbidding them to communicate or releasing a patronizin g message are bad tactics. Not too many people are fooled by them, and anger as a reaction can quickly form and grow. Only professional conduct concerning crisis communications will properly represent the organization in times of crisis. References Couse -Baker, R. (2013 ). Eyewitness [Photograph ]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/29233640@N07/8687975422/in/photolist -eeJ9pG -fyC9CK -bVw67C - ci4y2q -8vXafk -bkRpxa -c56YMA -ba28eK -7Vjuq6 -bwpKqP -dUYNLh -e8gAn2 -ddyDbM -cmC6oj - dzYnJ6 -7Vuwf4 -eg6gha -dN3N7H -6xH9W 6 -6GWvTP -afjbP6 -4pX98q -8XfCp8 -dAzV7v -7MBj4 Q- 5B2jPe -5B2hXP Karen Durham -Aguilera, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Director of Contingency Operations and Homeland Security, answers a question about future implementation of Executive Order 13690 . By U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District, 2015 ) MSL 5200, Crisis Communication Management 6 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Hiller, E. (2014) . #H sjw14 [Photograph ]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/scrippsjschool/14438664838/in/photolist -nZTW2d -8i4nhU -5pfJFY - mEaq3N -oj9vgi -ohkSyY -ohokx6 -oeShdy -nZpxNJ -6aRvi8 -6aVEKG -nZqUne -oiE qDi -fpcapA -rEgq1 - e2wYRw -8i4e2A -oeSkud -6aVFV5 -8hZYHF -o1yY64 -nZV2F6 -og1tm3 -9q15EX -ogRxns -6aRwcF -ogUb Smith, T. (2014). The spin cycle: Media tips, crisis communications and negative press, oh my! Mississippi Business Journal, 36 (8) . Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=oran95108 &v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA361551087&asid=dadfe3a6c6bfb956c2da3aa8f95ec2ea U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District . (2015). KDA returns home for FEMA meeting, tours local project [Photograph ]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/sacramentodistrict/16618996399/in/photolist -rjyGCF -q9CUmt -rhGgzi - jzFAAM -q6QVhc -drg4eE -niSkDB -ryJ4v7 -dVYdP4 -dpQnYF -qpokrs -dW4NU5 -qrAP zG -dVYeJX - dW4Q6Y -qqZqDw -dW4Nsy -huto19 -dVY6Jx -dpQwwG -dpQngv -r6Zhak -us3ZKC -9byGDB -dpQnvt - niSkKD Woodleywonderw orks. ( 2015). Satellite media tour [Photograph ]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/16498012315/in/photolist -r8SChc -eah8c7 -P5Lyb -ji1VQ - vZZev -mpVk -ji4qq -4kJas7 -ji4qp -89sGDo -mpX8 -nwDSFV -ji4qr -ji1VS -7tzqqj -ji1VP -5EfMvX -Qqx9 - 8QQEcM -nh7gYr -8ULUXZ -P5Lyj -2ZFFxV -5EfLde -ji4qt -g1EaV -6ZpPWW -5Eg6j H-7P7iTZ -5Eg5zB