The Value of Crisis Communications
By Anthony S. Mangeri for Domestic Preparedness
The role of the emergency management systems is to bring calm to chaos. The role of the public information officer (PIO) is to disseminate information that is credible, accurate, and reliable. It is a critical component of the initial response to meet the informational needs of residents – trusted, credible information aids in bringing calm.
The internet has created new distribution systems for information that include subscription services, e-mail lists, blogs, and social media. All these sources of media have the ability to manipulate the community’s perception of what is and is not important.
Communication systems are the essential tool to provide the public an understanding of what is occurring and how to react to a threat. Today’s PIOs must work with several media systems to ensure that the public is kept informed. It is now necessary for agencies to be able to provide information across multiple platforms.
Some communications researchers believe that people interact with media sources to create their own meanings out of the images and messages that they receive. The internet and other modern technologies allow individuals to play a more active role in determining the news and information they receive. In some instances, individuals subscribe to sources and control the news they see, hear, or read. In other cases, technology observes the readers’ patterns of interests to deliver aggregated news of interest to the reader based on an algorithm.
Defining Mass Media in the 21st Century
Popular news media is a form of mass media designed to distribute news and information to the mass population. Historically, news media has included print media such as newspapers and magazines. It also includes broadcast media such as radio and television.
In today’s world, it is content that drives media. Securing content that is of interest to targeted readers allows the sale of advertising and sponsorship of content. However, popular media is no longer the sole source for information. An overwhelming majority of the population now receive news through online sources, making today’s mass media very different than even 10 years ago. The internet is full of content, which also can steer the community’s perceptions, attitudes, and sense of what is and is not important.
Media in the 21st century includes more options than just print or broadcast media to provide news to individuals. Individuals increasingly receive news from sources that have other content that interest them. In addition to traditional sources, news content is now available via the internet, blogs, social media, and even internal agency channels. All of it now is pushed to the receivers via cellphone or tablet.
According to the Pew Research Center, more Americans get their news from social media than print news. Television remains the most consumed news but is rapidly losing ground to online sources. Also, according to Pew Research, adults of all ages are increasingly receiving news via mobile devices. As a result, news today is being disseminated and received quicker and consumers are far more mobile than in previous years.
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