Expert answer:Public Information Officers (PIOs)
Solved by verified expert:Please read the answers I attached about Public Information Officers (PIOs), Then respond for each answers with adding information (without asking questions) There must be a reference for each response. For the third response, please just read the answer then answer the question very down below in that document.
response_for_answer_no1.docx
response_for_answer_no2.docx
response_for_answer_no3.docx
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Response for answer No. 1
The top three challenges of the Public Information Officer all center around
communication difficulties. Communication difficulties with the public, with media
outlets, and with other emergency management professionals. Hughes and Palen point
out that civilians are the true “first-responders” (2012). Although civilians typically
possess no formal training in emergency management and public relations, they are
able to convey the “front lines” view point of the incident. This information, however, is
hardly objective. According to Lowery, news and media stations present shallow
information with little context around the skewed facts (2007). The primary challenge of the
PIO is promoting accurate and objective information. This struggle is met with resistance from
media outlets to present the more emotionally charged story to gain viewers and more
money for the network. The most logical way to combat misinformation is through press
conferences. This provides media personnel the opportunity to disseminate the most
accurate information.
However, it is possible that even with the most up to date and reliable information, the
media will not promote factual information. The secondary challenge of the PIO is collaboration
with other public information professionals. The relationship between the PIO and the media
is often adversarial as journalists often seek out “the story,” not the
information. According to Hughes and Palen, the PIO can only confirm or deny details of
the crisis with permission from the Incident Commander. This limitation could cause a
gap in public trust and an opportunity for news outlets to fabricate details of an incident
and misinform the public.
The third challenge of the PIO is gaining credibility as a professional. Golding and Rubin
emphasize the value of establishing a rapport with the minority populations within the
community prior to disaster (2010). It would be challenging to convince minority groups
of the organizations ability to provide resources in emergency situations, when some
are neglected prior to natural or man-made disaster. A prime example of public mistrust
in a crisis situation is the Flint, Michigan water problem. The Flint citizens developed a
mistrust for local government when contaminated water continued to be distributed and
mistrust grew when the local, state, and federal government did little to correct the
problem (Roy, 2017).
Golding, L., Rubin, D.L. (2010). Training for Public Information Officers in
Communication to Reduce Health Disparities: A Needs Assessment. Health Promotion
Practice, 12(3). Retrieved from Sage Journals.
Hughes, A.L., Palen, L. (2012). The Evolving Role of the Public Information Officer: An Examination of Social
Media in Emergency Management. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 9(1). Retrieved
from Ezproxy.
Lowery, W., Evans,W., Gower, K.K., Robinson, J.A., Ginter, P.M., McCormick, L.C.,
Abdolraulnia, M. (2007). Effective media communication of disasters: Pressing
problems and recommendations. BCM Public Health, 7(97). Retrieved from BioMed Central.
Roy, Siddartha. (2017). The hand-in-hand spread of mistrust and misinformation in Flint:
the water crisis not only left infrastructure and government agencies in need of cleaning
up; the infomration landscape was also messy. American Scientist, 105(1). Retrieved from
Gale Opposing Viewpoints.
Response for answer No. 2
1. As a public information officer there are many challenges in conducting your job fully
during normal operations and during an emergency. During an emergency some of the
main ways to communicate are through telephone, fax machines, mobile phones, Red
Cross, Internet facilities, electronic media, print media, word of mouth, pamphlets, and
flyers. Some of the difficulties with these methods of communication is with Telephones
is that not everyone has a phone. Although in a new more modern age more and more
people have cell phones, but within rural counties the likelihood of people having
phones may be less common than that of a populated suburb area. More importantly
when looking at places like third world countries they will not all have cellphones.
Additionally methods like fax and electronic media only work if the disaster occurs with
prior notice, but if a disaster is spontaneous like a tornado or something there is a
potential for the loss of power and communication. Even with mobile phone systems like
Code Red Alert systems people are required to sign up for them which means if there is
a potential for something that is not serious but has the potential to be only the people
registered will get the notification. Additionally print media is an alternative that will only
have success is widely distributed quickly and if there is notice for the event. (Civil
Protection Department)
Not only the methods of contact can be difficult during non-emergencies and
emergencies. Additionally it is important for a PIO to emphasis that employees should
not talk to media because they do not represent the agency. For example in Ohio there
was an Emergency Management Agency that had an issue with their director and it
became a small scandal in the media. The media was made aware of it because of
internal reporting and because of other response agencies that made comments about
the situation to the public. Additionally employees within the agency spoke to media
which fueled the fire anyway. The story compiled for three years until the Director finally
resigned from the agency and a new director was hired. The story could have gone a lot
worse and the public could have lost trust in the emergency management agency
because of the story was handled and not through the agency PIO networks. (HR
Communication)
Another perspective of the role of a PIO is through a corporation. For example look at
the Chipotle E. Coli outbreak of 2014. What was important about this PIO message that
was released was that Chipotle was responsible for the incident and was doing its best
to remedy it and promoted an alternate free boorito campaign instead. There was no
staff speaking out about the incident from staff, but only from key Chipotle Officials
(Forbes).
Resources:
Civil Protection Department, Communication Challenges during a Disaster, retrieved
fromhttps://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Emergency-
Telecommunications/Documents/Zambabwe_2011/Communication%20challenges%20
during%20past%20disasters.pdf
Society for Human Resource Management, Communicating with Employees During a
Crisis, retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hrmagazine/1116/pages/communicating-with-employees-during-a-crisis.aspx
Forbes, Chipotle E. Coli Crisis retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffwilliams/2015/11/04/can-chipotle-survive-its-e-colicrisis-pr-experts-seem-to-think-so-and-offer-advice/#514dea243276
Response for answer No. 3
For this response please just answer the question very down below after
reading this these answers
1) What are the difficulties encountered in communication from the Public information
officers point of view? Put yourself into the PIO role and discuss what you find to be the
top 3 issues.
The top three difficulties I think are: (1) communicating through uncertainty, (2) being
viewed as the expert, and (3) developing a means to reach the whole population.
The first difficulty arises mostly during crisis situations where information is scant, and
doesn’t always have the best credibility. During an emergency, it is the job of the PIO to
interact with the public, answer their questions, assuage their fears, and ensure that
they understand the situation and possible preventative actions. However, doing this
when you only have half of the information you should is extremely difficult, and might
require you to say, “I don’t know.”
This response is the reason for difficulty number 2. In an emergency, the PIO becomes
the expert, simply because they are the ones talking to the public. There might be a
technical specialist behind the PIO, but they are not the ones who talk to the media, or
answer questions from citizens. When a question is asked, the community expects, not
only an answer, but an answer that will put their fears to rest, and give them some
hope. They do not want to hear “I don’t know,” and might because angry or upset with
the lack of information being given.
At a risk of sounding like we’re beating a dead horse. The final difficulty is everything we
discussed in week 7—communicating with marginalized communities, and doing it in a
culturally sensitive way. A study done by Georgia State University, found that over 60%
of PIOs have difficulty connecting and collaborating with minority communities, and
notice a lack of minority representation in the planning phases (Golding & Rubin,
2011). They also found that about 40% of PIOs have a difficult time developing
culturally relevant materials and message, dealing with literacy challenges, and have
trouble communicating with diverse populations (Golding & Rubin, 2011). The survey
also asked PIOs to list what types of trainings were necessary to their job. The types
included: tailoring and targeting campaigns to improve the well-being of diverse
individuals, methods for developing high credibility in diverse communities, and
incorporating input from diverse cultural, racial, ethnic, linguistic and economic
communities (Golding & Rubin, 2011). Seeing this study made me realize that what we
talked about in week 7 are actual issues PIOs currently face. Understanding, including
and targeting marginalized communities is a difficult task, but must be done because, as
the PIO, it is your duty to communicate with all citizens.
2) The public campaign I’m focusing on stems from this video. Please watch it before
reading my response because I try hard not to give any spoilers away, and the
response might not make sense without watching.
https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart/videos/1067027756728221/
I saw this on Facebook and it immediately evoked a powerful emotion. I can’t quite put
a name to the emotion I felt, but I felt mad at myself for not noticing anything besides
the main guy’s journey. While watching I had no idea where the story was going or
what the goal of the video was, so I was sucked into the journey of the kid. When I got
the wool pulled over my eyes, I realized just how narrow visioned I was being. I think
this video did a great job at impacting me and driving me to change. Even if that
change is just spreading the word more. I plan to use this video as my idea for my PSA
due in a few weeks. I really love the way it was done, but maybe something missing
was during the review of all the actions we missed, there could have been some text
explaining the sign, since the video is saying “it’s preventable if we just know the signs.”
Golding, L., Rubin, D. (May, 2011). Society for Public Health Education. Volume 12, No.
3. Pg 406-413. Doi: 10.1177/1524839909344185. Retrieved from:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.901.8232&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Is there any strategy that could resolve the PIO obstacles you
have defined as point one and two?
…
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