Homeland Security and Emergency Management Discussion Chapter

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Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

M7D1: Social Media and Risk Communications

According to Bullock (et al. 2013) the four methods of risk communication include mitigation or "to promote implementation of strategies, technologies, and actions that will reduce the loss of lives and property in future disasters; preparedness or "to communicate preparedness messages that encourage and educate the public in anticipation of disaster events;" response or "to provide to the public notification, warning, evacuation, and situation reports on an ongoing disaster and recovery or "to provide individuals and communities affected by a disaster with information on how to register for and receive disaster relief" (Bullock et al. 2013: 515). It is in the response phase which was critically lacking in the case of dealing with the threat posed by the D.C. sniper. There is always an element of fear in the case of spontaneous threats which emerge, as but a realistic vision of this threat must be communicated. Fear is inevitable in any situation in which human life is in peril. However, unlike a hurricane or a snowstorm, the threat of a sniper is unexpected and there is no advance warning. This is one of the reasons the fear rate is so elevated, in combination with the unpredictable nature of the threat. While the threats were being investigated, the D.C. area was nearly paralyzed by the attacks: field trips were curtailed by schoolchildren and the media devoted a great deal of heated speculation to the likely identity of the purported attackers, much of which was incorrect and wholly speculative.

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It is important that law enforcement surveys the media coverage (not all of which it can control, although it may make a contribution to it in the form of press releases and public statements) and attempts to convey a realistic point-of-view of the threat. In the case of the sniper, one criticism of the actions of law enforcement was that it did not communicate clearly the likely statistical probability of risk and did not temper the sensationalistic coverage. Limiting fear through direct communication, versus letting the communication be solely tackled by the commercial media is extremely important. For example, having press releases regularly posted about the sniper on the law enforcement agency website and the level of likely threat encourages the public to directly access the information provided by law enforcement agencies, versus resorting to special reports issued by Fox News. Even the most legitimate media outlets such as NPR will have a natural bias to convey an elevated threat level, given this increases the likelihood of media interest by the public. The cliche that….....

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